In 1978 Ann and I were teaching at the International Community School, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, when Ethiopia celebrated the 4th anniversary of the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie. Fidel Castro was to be a special guest since thousands of Cuban soldiers were in Ethiopia helping secure the new government and ousting an invading Somali army in eastern Ethiopia. I attended the big parade, walking within 50 yards of the pavilion for Castro, Ethiopian strongman Mengistu, and others. Soon about 30 (not very friendly) white men came to where I was standing—I figured they were East Germans since they all had East German made Exacta cameras. About every 15 minutes a loudspeaker truck would come by telling everyone to start clapping, cheering, etc, Castro was coming. About 30 yards from me two shots rang out. I thought, “Do I run or what?” Nobody in the crowd moved except the soldiers guarding the parade—they all cocked their rifles. A few minutes later a jeep came and carted off an injured man and woman. After two hours of clapping off and on, Castro did arrive, and the parade started. Three sides of the dignitary pavilion were covered, and even though I was about 50 yards to the west side of the pavilion, I did not see Fidel Castro.
Attached are three photos from the event: #1 Ethiopian flags with posters of Communists Karl Marks and Engels visible in the back ground #2 Marching people’s militia, #3 tradition Ethiopian warriors on horseback with spears.
Enjoy, Chuck Haspels
