After reading this extract, I referred to the original text of the interview on your website to find out what Meles responded. Referring specifically to this question, Meles answered:

One of the primary objectives of Meles for joining the TPLF and becoming its leader was to achieve the separation of Eritrea from Ethiopia. As we all know, he has succeeded in doing this. Therefore, 14 years in power was rather a productive time for Meles as far as his original plan was concerned. For obvious reasons, this was not given as an answer by Meles to the question asked. Probably, he would have given a related answer if the interviewer had constructed his question around this issue. Clearly, the interviewer had wrongly assumed that Meles was the true leader of Ethiopia. This suggests a failure on the part of the interviewer to understand the true nature of Meles and of Ethiopians to expose what Meles truly is to the rest of the world.

In order for Meles to achieve his goal of ceding Eritrea, he has to make Ethiopia weak and eliminate all possible challenges. Consequently, during his administration, the country has been subjected to a totalitarian rule (ethno-communist style), abject poverty and dangerous ethnic divisions. In the meantime, the country’s properties have been looted by the leadership and its affiliates. Thus, it is not surprising that Ethiopia has not been able to come out of the problems that it has been facing for a long time while under the present regime of Meles Zenawi. Unless one gets rid of the regime itself, this will never change. It appears that a lot more needs to be done to make sure that the truth about Meles is known.

Zeleke WA
USA