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Viewing cable 07ASMARA500, PRESIDENT ISAIAS FOCUSES ON DOMESTIC ISSUES AND BORDER IN

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07ASMARA500 2007-06-06 14:22 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Asmara
VZCZCXRO7243
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHAE #0500/01 1571422
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 061422Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY ASMARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8886
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1365
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1543
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0645
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEWMFD/CJTF HOA
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 ASMARA 000500 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
LONDON FOR AFRICA WATCHERS 
PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS 
 
E.O. 12958 DECL:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR ER
SUBJECT:  PRESIDENT ISAIAS FOCUSES ON DOMESTIC ISSUES AND BORDER IN 
INDEPENDENCE DAY SPEECH 
 
1. SUMMARY:  On May 24, the 16th anniversary of Eritrea's 
independence, President Isaias Afwerki spoke at length about 
domestic economic concerns and the border.  The President's speech 
squarely blamed the U.S. for the lack of progress in demarcating the 
border and described international initiatives to resolve the 
stalemate as attempts by the international community to "reduce 
Eritrea into a subservient appendage" (presumably to Ethiopia).  On 
domestic issues, President Isaias catalogued the efforts made by the 
Government of the State of Eritrea (GSE) to achieve food security 
and increase economic development and self-sufficiency, but 
acknowledged the areas of shortfall.  Justifying the GSE's shunning 
of humanitarian aid as necessary to save the country from a "bondage 
of mendicancy", he exhorted the Eritrean people to remain patient, 
toil harder and be prepared to make sacrifices.  The President's 
speech was followed by a short skit presenting the "inevitable 
downfall of a superpower" - clearly targeting the U.S.  U.S. Embassy 
personnel did not attend any Independence Day events.  Full text of 
Isaias' speech is provided in Para 3.  End Summary. 
 
2. Comment: Given the President's predominant focus in previous 
public interviews on Eritrea's foreign affairs initiatives, his 
emphasis on domestic issues in this speech came as a bit of a 
surprise -- which may indicate an awareness of the increasing 
discontent among the citizens of Eritrea with their domestic lot. 
President Isaias' speech aims at diffusing criticism of his regime's 
policies while uniting Eritreans by calling on their sense of 
nationalism, and of course blaming the international community. 
Unsurprising were his anti-American comments which are consistent 
with his speeches and interviews over the last year, although post 
anticipated more hammering of the U.S. and international community 
on issues concerning Somalia and Sudan.  End Comment. 
 
3. A GSE English translation of the speech delivered in Tigrinya 
follows below.  Begin text: 
Dear Compatriots, 
Honorable Guests, 
Ladies and Gentlemen, 
For the last 16 years, we have been striving, with unrelenting 
resolve and without faltering in our steps, to ensure steady 
economic growth in order to raise and ameliorate the living 
standards and lifestyle of our people. Not to do so would have 
rendered our independence, for which we yearned for more than two 
generations and paid heavy sacrifices in the political and armed 
struggles that we waged, symbolic indeed. 
It was not easy to initially lay, from scratch, the foundations of a 
devastated economy. To resurrect those foundations after the new 
cycle of destruction wrought by Ethiopia 's recent invasion, 
exacerbated by incessant hostilities, further amplified the hurdles 
that we had to overcome. This is too obvious to merit elaboration. 
Yet, because we toiled, tirelessly, indomitably, and unperturbedly, 
our accomplishments thus far are beyond comparison indeed. 
We had no qualms to recognize humanitarian assistance as a transient 
imperative, indeed even as our right, during austere times until we 
find relief and recoup the opportunities denied to us for 
generations. It was this realization that prompted us to solicit 
humanitarian aid in the first place. However, this was misconstrued 
as a weakness to foster an attitude of: "Let us bind the hands with 
which you work and eat, and, let us spoon-feed you" with all its 
attendant pressures. Thus, when practical and effective alternatives 
were shunned, we opted for economic liberation and subsequently 
augmented our own efforts for economic development and growth, to 
deliver ourselves from the bondage of mendicancy. As a result, we 
stand on a more sound footing today. 
This is why we have been working vigorously to ensure "Food 
Security"; which we saw as primarily a transitional objective from 
the outset. Indeed, food security, per se, is not the ultimate goal, 
but an objective for a specific phase aimed at enabling us to 
produce sustainable surplus in crop output. 
The productivity of land must be increased; irrigation farming must 
be developed and propagated instead of mere reliance on rainfall. 
Instead of limiting and debilitating agricultural land in plots and 
slopes, it must be leveled and flattened extensively. The wide 
Eastern and Western plains must be redeemed from traditional 
pasturage and desolation, and, be cultivated extensively with 
irrigated water. High-yield seeds must be selected and multiplied. 
Traditional agriculture must be substituted, in a phased process, by 
modern and efficient plowing, sowing and harvesting machinery, 
complemented by advanced and effective drip and spray technology. 
Pesticides and fertilizers must be extensively, but scrupulously, 
employed hand in hand with modern projects that enhance livestock 
 
ASMARA 00000500  002 OF 005 
 
 
production. Activities that destroy the environment must be 
inhibited. Modern agro-industrial plants must be established and 
expanded. Research and training capabilities must be strengthened. 
Instead of being content with a single harvest a year, we should 
strive, whenever possible, to obtain two or three harvests a year. 
The cumulative objective is to ensure that our programmes of food 
security attain surplus production and yield competitive exports. 
All the aforementioned feasible and attainable programs require the 
implementation of extensive and vigorous soil and water conservation 
programs; construction of dams, micro dams, diversion canals and 
wells; provision of machinery and essential equipment in the 
adequate quantity and appropriate quality; as well as prudent 
planning, efficient organization and implementation in tandem with 
financial resources and tireless work. 
How long will it take to implement, stage by stage, all the 
objectives listed above and to secure fulfillment of our needs? 
Inarguably, this cannot be achieved overnight. Nevertheless, to 
shorten the time, redoubled efforts and sacrifice will always be 
necessary. 
Our achievement in the past years was anchored on these premises. 
Still we have to ask how much of what we planned did we really 
accomplish? Setting aside accurate measurement standards, we cannot 
claim to have accomplished even 25% of our plans even by rough, 
optimistic, estimates. Nevertheless, because we stretched our 
resources and broadened our efforts, there was no lost time. And 
although the various programmes we have implemented so far have not 
ensured 100% food security, it has nonetheless reached an 
irreversible stage, and can thus be dubbed successful. The 
experiences gleaned and the efficiency honed along the way, have 
moreover prompted us to focus on refinement and consolidation of 
previous programmes, instead of launching many new programmes for 
the year 2006-2007. To achieve the desired result and taking into 
account the anticipated rains, our efforts must continue without 
letup. Moreover, as our capabilities accumulate in these processes, 
the prospects for higher output in 2007-2008 are more brighter. 
In our aims to achieve food security, the exploitation of our 
fisheries has been pursued with the same profound focus and 
expectation as agriculture. However, despite our high hopes and 
expectations, we have not been able to exploit even 10% of the 
potential output. The opportunities that we created to encourage 
foreign investment in the sector have not borne fruit. Instead, they 
inhibited local growth and entailed abuse and pillage. In the 
circumstances, there is no better alternative to earnest endeavors 
aimed at developing our own fishing capacity in a highly organized 
manner, hand in hand with the establishment of proper infrastructure 
and sustenance of processing and transport facilities. At the same 
time, we continue to recognize the importance of finding sincere 
investors and partners, in meaningful ventures and market outlets, 
and are not sparing efforts towards that end. In this regard, we 
have not also underrated the substantial challenges posed by the 
limitations of our human resources and management competencies. The 
preparations to make the year 2008 a turning point will indeed 
significantly augment the contributions of the fisheries sector to 
the overall objective of food security. 
We have embarked on impressive projects, throughout the past years, 
in infrastructure fully realizing that infrastructure - that is 
roads, air-ports, sea ports, electricity and water supply, 
communications, terrestrial, maritime, and aerial transport, network 
of free zones, etc. - is a prerequisite for attracting all kinds of 
investment. The prospect to launch much bigger projects both by 
leveraging domestic resources and through joint venture arrangements 
are better than ever today. Thus, from this year onward, we shall 
embark on even greater projects. 
The incremental provision of residential housing to our citizens at 
a fair price and with equitable distribution is one of the 
infrastructural projects we have pursued with paramount interest. 
But although much has been built, it still falls far short than 
current and projected demand. Persistent efforts will thus be made 
to expedite the process in order to harmonize supply and demand in 
quantitative, qualitative and price terms. 
Tourism is one of the promising sectors that will fuel economic 
growth. The comparative advantages and opportunities that ensue from 
our natural endowments in general and our sea coast in particular is 
inarguable indeed. Nonetheless, the obvious lack of infrastructure 
and proper services had limited any significant investment in the 
sector in the past years. At this time however, the cumulative 
infrastructural investments put in place coupled with the promising 
and tangible opportunities that are already in the horizon will 
enable us to launch and set in motion really big projects. Still, 
our expectations must not be exaggerated and we need to recognize 
 
ASMARA 00000500  003 OF 005 
 
 
that we shall have to work with much added vigour to accomplish the 
initial requirements. 
In industry, various enterprises in the agro-industrial and 
fish-processing sub-sectors that are primarily geared to meet 
domestic demand and in which we have competitive advantages are in 
their final stages of completion. The aim is not only to boost 
production, but to ensure product quality and export potential as 
well. If the schemes underway to increase cotton production make 
good progress, they will stimulate growth in the textile and clothes 
manufacturing enterprises. The same applies to tanneries. Big 
investments are also underway to bolster production of building 
materials, (such as granite, marble and others), for the domestic 
market as well as for export. 
With regard to markets, it is obvious that there are legitimate 
concerns regarding the hike of prices. The impact and ramification 
of unstable and rapidly rising global oil prices has of course to be 
taken into account. The arbitrary hike in the price of commodities 
and consumer products attributed to capricious and illegal practices 
and that cannot be justified in terms of regional and international 
market levels will however require better regulation. In this 
regard, various assessments that have been underway to ensure the 
realignment of prices will be guided towards practical measures in 
order to ensure fairness. 
In the mining sector, it is well-known that a lot of exciting 
information has been disseminated and is already in the public 
domain. True, it has been proven that our mineral resources are 
large. Yet, exploiting this endowment and perpetuating its benefits 
for future generations requires judicious agreements with 
prospective partners and the consolidation of our national 
capabilities. Suffice it to say that we are unhurriedly and 
earnestly striving towards that direction lest the boon of minerals 
becomes a bane and a factor of disillusion. 
Ladies and Gentlemen, 
Economic development is not confined to economic sectors only. There 
are other areas, just as important, which have shown considerable 
growth and a marked significance in determining economic growth and 
the alleviation of living standards. These are: the augmentation of 
health and educational services in terms of their quality and 
equitable spatial distribution; expanding social security programs 
that rectify imbalances of opportunity and the fair distribution of 
national resources; ensuring that governance and management are 
efficient and effective; strengthening media outreach to increase 
knowledge and awareness by disseminating timely and reliable 
information; expanding cultural activities and fine arts profoundly 
and extensively so as to invigorate spiritual values. Bolstering our 
security and defense capabilities - at times by according it a much 
higher priority - is another task for which we have exerted 
unflagging efforts. This is not only to safeguard our sovereignty 
but also to protect the progress of our development drives. 
Ladies and Gentlemen, 
All the issues I have mentioned so far are not novel. They are 
summaries and reminders invoked on this special annual occasion so 
as to focus our attention. What have been accomplished are indeed 
tremendous relative to the short-span of time and paucity of 
opportunities; temporary shortage of resources; and, incessant 
external hostilities. But we have never been complacent at any given 
time. Even now, the prospects of a better future are not going to 
delude us. Definitely and inarguably, nothing will block our 
determined efforts to ensure, ultimately, irreversible and 
sustainable development through harder work. 
Ladies and Gentlemen, 
Memories are still fresh in our minds of the destruction and 
retrogression wreaked by the invasion which intended to strangle our 
development and progress. Our progress in defiance of the regressive 
forces has not only unsettled our foes, but increased their panic. 
It would be an understatement to say that these unwarranted 
hostilities are today bordering on madness. Although it is possible 
to enumerate many sinister plots, it is the boundary issue that 
continues to be brandished as the principal instrument to keep us 
entangled under constant threat and uncertainty and thereby impede 
our development and stability. 
Indeed, five years have elapsed since the ruling of the Boundary 
Commission. During those five years, over and above the desire to 
hold us hostage to uncertainty, no rock was left unturned in pursuit 
of the futile hopes to overthrow the Government, create chaos and 
turmoil, sanction the border invasion and reduce Eritrea into a 
subservient appendage. One plot is foiled... Another plot is 
concocted, and, foiled; ...without let up. The egregious objective 
is transparent. The tactic employed constitutes of "buying time 
through continuous deception". In the wishful thinking that the hope 
 
ASMARA 00000500  004 OF 005 
 
 
might be realized one day! But until when will this continue? 
We recall last year's ploy and its outcome. This year's defunct 
scheme within the "constant tactic" revolves around the last 
Resolution of the Security Council. 
But before we delve into the contents and analysis of the 
Resolution, it is helpful to know, for better understanding, how and 
by whom the Resolution was crafted in the first place. 
The Resolution was drafted and proposed by officials of the US 
administration. Unsurprisingly, when the draft was tabled, the other 
members of the Security Council did not raise any issue with the 
exception of one Member State . When this Member State suggested 
amendments to imbue it with some balance, the US representative 
insisted that the draft was unalterable. The Resolution was thus 
adopted as is in the name of the UN Security Council. 
One of the standard ploys that we find repeated in the Resolution is 
the attempt to deflect attention from the cardinal border issue and 
dilute it by focusing on "the Temporary Security Zone, and 
withdrawal from it." Temporary means temporary. At one occasion, the 
Special Representative of the Secretary General had disclosed that 
the peacekeeping force, deployed then for a year and a half, would 
extend its stay to five years. One may ask, "Who authorized or 
prodded him to make such a statement? And is there a specific 
time-frame for the term "Temporary"? That temporary meant until the 
completion of border demarcation is of course apparent to everyone. 
US administration officials who have rejected the "final and 
binding" Award to flout the rule of law; and who have overtly and 
repeatedly impeded the process from proceeding to physical 
demarcation after consummating all the necessary technical 
processes, have rendered obsolete, more than any other party, the 
Temporary Security Zone in real terms. In the circumstances, no 
party should expect the Government of Eritrea to watch idly, 
paralyzed by willfully created uncertainty, while a quarter of its 
sovereign territory is doomed to dereliction deprived from any 
development work. To undertake development programmes with the 
requisite security arrangements is the sovereign and legal right of 
the Government and people of Eritrea. This does not require the 
permission of any party. And, the Eritrean Defense Forces have the 
obligation and right to conduct development programs and ensure 
protection in this part of the country just as they do in other 
parts of our sovereign territory. To insinuate that the TPLF regime, 
which has been allowed to violate the Peace Agreement, obstruct 
demarcation, and occupy sovereign Eritrean territory, has equal 
rights in the TSZ as the people and Government of Eritrea, and to 
peddle perfidious accusations against Eritrea, is an illegal and 
perverse scheme that erodes the stature of the UN Security Council 
and that cannot deceive anyone. 
The Resolution contains a seemingly novel and significant article 
acknowledging Ethiopia 's "acceptance" of the Award. This subterfuge 
is deliberately inserted to sow confusion and give undue credit to 
the TPLF regime. The fact is the TPLF regime was instructed by US 
Administration officials to announce obliquely its "acceptance" of 
the Award just prior to the passing of the Resolution. The advice 
went: "the announcement will give us the necessary latitude to ram 
through the Resolution at the UNSC.... Later until November 2007 and 
beyond, you can revert to your usual game of buying time and 
scuttling the process through equivocation". 
The Article which contains the clause: "pledges support to the 
Peacekeeping Force" is hollow by the same analogy as the Article 
referring to the "integrity of the TSZ". US Administration officials 
have rendered meaningless the Zone and its temporary essence. Issues 
that crop up in regard to the Peacekeeping Force are consequences of 
this grave transgression. Leaving the fundamental question aside, 
the Government of Eritrea's decision to show restraint and refrain 
from taking appropriate measures when it knows full well that the 
underlying parameters of the TSZ have been violated, and, UNMEE's 
deployment rendered meaningless and is being utilized as a cover for 
other purposes, must be appreciated indeed. 
The Resolution further heralds the appointment of a "Special Envoy 
to normalize the relations between the two countries." This too is 
another worn-out scheme. How can normalization or regional peace 
possibly prevail when Agreements are violated, the Award and the 
rule of law breached and sovereign Eritrean territories occupied? No 
one can be deceived by this illegal notion, which can serve no 
purpose other than to obscure the cardinal issue and to buy time. 
The Resolution urges that "the Boundary Commission be enabled to 
fulfill its mandate." But how can the Boundary Commission be 
expected to fulfill its mandate, when US Administration officials 
have for the past five years been concocting incessant obstacles and 
"alternative mechanisms" to prevent the EEBC from conducting its 
business, and when, even at this late hour, they have coerced and 
 
ASMARA 00000500  005 OF 005 
 
 
cajoled the UNSC to adopt a deceptive Resolution that has nothing to 
do with legality and that is aimed at corroding the cardinal 
issues. 
Ladies and Gentlemen, 
After 5 years of deliberate violations of Agreements, arbitration 
decisions and the rule of law, the Government and people of Eritrea 
cannot be expected to seriously consider an illegal Resolution that 
was primarily concocted to spawn more complications. The EEBC must 
be allowed to demarcate on the ground its Delimitation Decision 
without illegal meddling, obstructions or meanderings. The Security 
Council must also be allowed to shoulder its obligations on the 
basis of Chapter Seven of the UN Charter and the provisions of the 
Peace Agreement. It must otherwise be underlined that primary 
responsibility for the obstructions and deleterious consequences of 
the past five years, and for new obstacles and negative consequences 
that may unfold in the period ahead, does not rest on the Security 
Council but on US Administration officials. 
Ladies and Gentlemen, 
I had originally intended to talk about regional issues; especially 
the dangerous interventions and complications we see in the Sudan 
and Somalia. However, as these matters have been broached in 
numerous recent statements and for the sake of brevity, I shall only 
ask you to recall the remarks I made at this time last year in 
regard to the nature and status of international affairs in the post 
Cold War era. 
Dear Compatriots at Home and Abroad, 
We have scaled formidable challenges, obstructions and complications 
to reach a stage with much higher prospects and possibilities. 
Still, the challenges that will confront us should not be 
underrated. We must thus work with higher vigour and steadfastness. 
I wish to thank and extend my congratulations to all my compatriots 
at home and abroad and to all branches of the Government and the 
PFDJ. Special thanks are, above all, due to our Defense Forces who 
are making unparallel contributions to the security and economic 
growth of our country by paying heavy sacrifices and enduring lost 
opportunities. 
In conclusion, I wish to thank all the artists and the youth who 
have toiled hard to make the celebrations of the 16th anniversary of 
our independence, like other sacred occasions, vibrant and an 
occasion for buttressing public awareness and steadfastness. 
My best wishes for a happy year and good rains 
Glory to our Martyrs who made our existence possible 
Victory to the Masses! 
End text. 
 
MCINTYRE