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Fact Sheet

Name: Mengistu Haile Mariam
Country: Ethiopia
Birthday: 1937
Died: still living
Dates in Power: 1977- May 1991
How Leader Came into Power: Military coup
Classification: Communist Dictator
Nuclear Capability: no
Major Achievements: The Red Terror

Score Card (click here for the explanations)

Charisma/ Popularity: 2.25
Danger Rating (Foreign Policy): 1.25
Oppression Rating: 3
Number of Domestic Victims: 4
Longevity: 4
Economics: 1.5
Notoriety/ Infamy: 2.5
Statesman Factor: 2.25
Extremism: 3.75
Progressiveness: 1.75
Total Score (50 max): 26.25

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Mengistu was born in 1937 in Walayta, Ethiopia

In 1974 he participated in toppling Emperor Haile Selassie; who died one year later, strangled due to an order possibly given by Mengistu. Although other groups participated in Selassie's overthrow, the Derg (a group of military enlisted men) emerged as the most powerful.

In 1977he became the head of state and chairman of the Derg, after he had his two predecessors assassinated. Mengistus rule was characterised by a totalitarian government and a complete militarisation of the country, thanks to massive foreign aid from the then-USSR, other Eastern Bloc countries, as well as Cuba. Between 1977 and 1987 he carried out the dreaded Red Terror campaign, which left thousands dissidents against the Derg dead. The constitution of the country in the 1970's and 1980's was styled after the USSR's, with similar socialist programmes, a Politburo and the foundation of the Ethiopian Socialist Workers Party. Foreign interests in the country were nationalised with recompense.

On 09 October 1987 Mengistu became president under a new constitution as the country was renamed to the People's Republic of Ethiopia.

During the 1980's, Mengistu's government was confronted with enormous problems, with prolonged droughts, followed by widespread famine (particularly in 1984-1985. Meanwhile, in the northern regions of Tigray and Eritrea, uprisings of separationists would further plague him In 1989, the Tigray Perople's Liberation Front merged with other opposition groups to form the Ethiopian People's Revolutionaly Democratic Front (EPRDF).

In May of 1991 EPRDF troops marched into the capitol city Addis Ababa. Mengistu blamed his failure on Michail Gorbachov, due to the break-up of the Soviet Union. Which caused the end of Soviet aid to Ethiopia. Mengistu fled the country and was granted asylum in Zimbabwe by Robert Mugabe. He lived in the suburb of Harare named Gun Hill under Mugabe's protection, despite repeated attempts by the Ethiopian government to have him extradited so he could stand trial. Many Derg members were thus sentenced to death in absentia.

Original article submitted by Steffen Dreier to www.dictatorofthemonth.com and published with permission.

Translated from German by www.dictatorofthemonth.com