FREEDOM – SOMALIA AND THE CONGO
...We have already referred to the
unprecedented increase in the number of African states which today enjoy their
freedom. We rejoice with Our African brothers in the irresistable tide which
has brought them to the shores of freedom, and We embrace them in the
achievements of these days. In particular, we extend the hand of felicitation
and of brotherhood to the people of Somalia whose independence We were among
the first to espouse and support and who have now this most precious of gifts
for themselves and their posterity. We are confident that the bonds which join
the peoples of Ethiopia and Somalia will, with each passing year, grow
perceptibly stronger and that any problems or difficulties which exist or which
may arise between us will be approached and resolved in a spirit of mutual
trust, respect and friendship.
During the last few months, the
increasingly significant role being played by the African nations in man’s
struggle for peace and freedom has been sharply highlighted in the Congo crisis
which, unfortunately even today remains un-resolved. In the Congo, We have
witnessed the disheartening spectacle of an African state, only barely emergent
from colonial status, being torn asunder by interests which seek only the
exploitation of the Congolese people for their own selfish ends and which
threaten to transform this newly independent nation into a mere pawn in the
cold war struggle. Ethiopia has supported the independence and the territorial
unity of the Congo, and We have deplored those attitudes which have thus far
obstructed the prompt solution of the difficulties which beset the Congo. In
Our messages to the Congo leaders, We have urged that they lay aside personal
differences and ambitions and that they work together for the unity and
stability of the nation which they lead. If they fail to do so, the suffering
of the Congolese people will be great indeed.
It has been largely due to the decisive
and resolute action of the United Nations in the Congo and to the support which
this Organization has received from the great majority of African states that a
potentially explosive situation has thus far been contained and that the threat
which the Congo crisis poses for the stability and security of the African
continent has not burst beyond control. Ethiopia responded promptly to the
United Nations’ call for assistance in the Congo. Four Ethiopian battalions are
serving under the United Nations banner in the Congo, and Ethiopian technicians
and experts are working within the administrative framework which the United
Nations has created there.
To
those who would in the Congo, thwart the legitimate and normal desires of the
Congolese people and subvert and distort the forces at work there to their own
purposes, We would say only this: Africa has struggled long and determinedly to
rid itself of the yoke of oppression and exploitation. Africans now, with the
end of the struggle in view, with this long-desired goal in sight, will not willingly
see victory wrenched at the last moment from their grasp. Do not seek to
perpetrate, in some different guise, the old forms of economic and political
exploitation and oppression. If, in truth, the basic struggle in the world
today is for the minds of men, then that nation or group of nations which seeks
to impose its will upon any African people will most assuredly be vanquished in
this struggle. Africa needs and desires and welcomes the help of others, both
physical and moral, but Africa must nevertheless be left to develop herself,
her people, her resources, as Africans determine. Leave to us, freely and
without qualm, the choice between good and evil, between injustice and justice,
between oppression and liberty. Our choice will be the right one, and History
will judge us, and you, the better for it.
Nov. 10, 1960.
Selected Speeches of His
Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie - page 208 –
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A stamp printed in the Ethiopia, is dedicated to the 70th anniversary of H.I.M. Qedamawi Haile Selassie. UN soldier on a map of the Congo, circa 1962. |
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