Some see worsening rights situation in aid donor 'darling' Ethiopia

[Che -Guevara]

The U.S. gives about $1 billion annually to Ethiopia. But even as U.S. and other international aid has surged in the last decade, activists charge that the government has become more authoritarian.

 

By Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times

Thursday, August 12, 2010

 

Reporting from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Like many in the West, former U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia David Shinn watched the country's recent elections for signs that democracy was finally taking root.

 

When the results of the May vote were announced, all but two of 547 parliamentary seats went to the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, the coalition that has been in power here for nearly 20 years, or its allied parties.

 

"How do you win 99% of the vote?" Shinn said. "That's un-American." And yet, he said, "Ethiopia remains a darling of the donor community."

 

 

Source

[Haatu]

Kenya is much more deserving of this aid.

[Saalax]

of course ^^ since some of that money would reach garrisa.