Treaty with the USSR is Rescinded
In
1977, the Somalis inhabiting the Ogaden region in Ethiopia rallied
themselves behind the Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF) and
started a "liberation" war against the Ethiopian government. The front
received military aid from Somalia. The USSR and Cuba despatched
military aid to Ethiopia to suppress the rebellion.
In the same year (1977), Somalia broke off diplomatic relations with
Cuba, abrogated the treaty of friendship formerly signed with the USSR,
and expelled the USSR personnel in the country-but without severing
formal diplomatic ties. Somalia then forged closer ties with the West,
and appealed for military help from the West. No aid arrived; and in
just a year, the WSLF lost the Ogaden War.
The Ogaden conflict is by no means over, for the WSLF guerrillas do
launch sporadic attacks against the Ethiopian government. And President
Siad Barre's regime still insists on the right to self-determination of
the Ogaden Somalis. At least 700,000 Somalis fled Ethiopia and sought
refuge in Somalia, thus compounding Somalia's economic problems. These
refugees live in camps where hunger and disease are their daily
experiences-and the end is not near.
National Movements and New States in Africa