Ethiopian Foreign Minister Quits; Assails Regime as ‘Out of Touch’

Ethiopian Foreign Minister Goshu Wolde announced Monday that he has resigned to protest what he called his government’s totalitarianism and dictatorship.

“The government is surely out of touch with the genuine aspirations of, and insensitive to the plight of, the Ethiopian people, while increasingly determined to rule against their grain. All efforts to moderate its policies from within were to no avail,” he told reporters.

Goshu, 45, was foreign minister for nearly four years.

Asked if he is seeking political asylum in the United States, he said he has not made a decision about his future. Some of his family members are in the United States, he said. Goshu studied at Yale law school.

He said he is resigning immediately as foreign minister and as a member of the Central Committee of Marxist Ethiopia’s ruling party.

‘Intolerance, Repression’

“I have recently watched with helplessness as my country slipped further and further into totalitarianism and absolute dictatorship, with the inevitable consequences of intolerance and repression,” he said.

He accused Ethiopia’s government of “short-sighted and rigidly doctrinaire policies” and said it has lost the moral right to govern.

“While I have yet to decide about my future, I shall, nevertheless, pledge to continue to work for and promote the best interests of the Ethiopian people--social justice, genuine democracy, territorial integrity and independence,” he said.

Notified Head of State

Goshu said he has notified the Ethiopian head of state, Mengistu Haile Mariam.

He would not say what specifically prompted his decision.

Ethiopia’s Marxist government came to power after Emperor Haile Selassie was dethroned in 1974.

The foreign minister’s speech to the United Nations less than three weeks ago gave no hint of his disaffection with his government. Adhering to the party line, he spoke out against “support for counterrevolutionary elements” in Nicaragua, backed the “liberation struggle” in southern Africa and paid “deserved tribute” to the Soviet Union for its disarmament proposals.

In the last year, Ethiopia’s two top famine relief officials have defected. Last month, Ethiopia’s ambassador to France also quit his post.