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DE RUEHAE #0306 1621407
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 101407Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY ASMARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9725
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUMICEA/JICCENT MACDILL AFB FL
RUEPADJ/CJTF-HOA J2X CAMP LEMONIER DJ
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS ASMARA 000306 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/E 
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PROP SOCI ER
SUBJECT: ANTI-U.S. SENTIMENTS MARK ANOTHER ERITREAN 
LIBERATION DAY 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: As in the past two years, President Isaias 
used the May 24 Eritrean Liberation Day festivities to 
lambast the U.S. Administration for its policies on the 
Eritrean-Ethiopian border and in the Horn of Africa, and to 
blame the United States for virtually all economic and 
political problems facing the world today.  The follow-on 
theatrical productions in Asmara and other cities focused 
this year on societal themes of teaching the younger 
generations of the precedence of duty to country over 
personal desires.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Anti-U.S. sentiment once again dominated the 
Eritrean May 24 Liberation Day festivities.  (Note: The U.S. 
Embassy did not receive an invitation this year to attend the 
Liberation Day functions; we were the only resident 
diplomatic mission not invited.  End Note.)  In his speech, 
President Isaias assumed a belligerent, anti-U.S. tone.  As 
expected, Isaias lambasted the U.S. position on the 
Ethiopian-Eritrean border dispute, noting the "failure of 
attempts on the part of the U.S. Administration to hamper the 
implementation of the Boundary Commission's ruling."  The 
President continued his tirade by accusing the United States 
of "mass extermination of the human race" under the pretext 
of the Global War of Terror, and assigned U.S. responsibity 
for trampling democracy, undermining rule of law globally, 
world food shortages, global increases in terrorism, and 
skyrocketing fuel prices.  The second half of Isaias's speech 
focused on Eritrean food security, and - surprisingly - he 
acknowledged "poor management" for the government's failure 
to date to achieve food security.  Isaias counseled his 
fellow Eritreans against eating white bread, pasta, and other 
foods not produced in the country, until food security is 
achieved. 
 
¶3. (SBU) As in prior years, the Eritrean government included 
as part of its nationwide festivities amateur theatrical 
presentations.  In contrast to the strongly anti-U.S. 2007 
production (which featured the nations of the world uniting 
against, and defeating, the belligerent "super power"), this 
year's artistic offering in Asmara had a more societal focus. 
 The play's theme centered on encouraging the older 
generation to properly counsel the younger generation about 
the traumas related to living in a war-torn society.  Another 
Liberation Day theatrical production in the city of Segeneity 
followed a more xenophobic theme.  The play featured a young 
Eritrean soldier who is killed while attempting to flee the 
country in order to marry his fiance living abroad.  The 
play's presumed moral appears two-fold: a reminder to 
Eritreans that duty to their country takes precedence over 
personal desires, and that attempting to leave Eritrea can 
only result in disaster. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Comment: The "blame America" official speech by 
President Isaias has become standard fare for Liberation Day. 
 Isaias' anti-U.S./Western rhetoric in his direct address to 
the Eritrean people nonetheless paled before various public 
statements he made to the international press in a spate of 
recent interviews, in which he blamed the CIA and UNHCR for 
luring away the country's youth and provided dire warnings to 
his fellow Eritreans that all that truly awaits them beyond 
Eritrea's borders are refugee camps, prostitution, and 
hardship.  End Comment. 
MCMULLEN