Rep. ties up foreign aid

Dave Brooks

U.S. foreign aid to Ethiopia could be cut off unless the country

makes good on a business deal with the family of one of Rep. Dana

Rohrabacher’s surfing buddies.

The Huntington Beach Republican representative said he is ready to

block all funding to Ethiopia unless it’s officials agree to repay

Gebremedhin Berhane for an alcohol factory taken from him under the

1970s Communist regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam.

The diplomatic community and Ethiopian activists are criticizing

Rohrabacher for playing brinksmanship with people’s lives to help one

single family. Rohrabacher argues that the United States should not

be providing foreign aid to nations that don’t conduct honest

business with American citizens.

“You have to send a message to corrupt governments that you can’t

trust them with aid,” Rohrabacher said. “If people’s lives are on the

line, it’s not because Mr. Berhane is trying to get his alcohol

factory back.”

Rohrabacher’s bill, an attachment to a larger foreign policy bill,

easily passed the House of Representatives in early June and is

expected to have little opposition in the Senate.

Ethiopia has already offered to repay Berhane for his

still-operating National Alcohol and Liquor Factory in Addis Ababa,

but Rohrabacher said the offer was “a joke and an insult.” He said

Berhane was offered between $300,000 and $400,000 for a factory that

could generate $20 million -- Berhane is said to be asking for a

figure in the “low millions.”

Ethiopian officials rejected a counter-offer to either pay the

“fair value” of the factory or allow the Berhane family to repurchase

the factory for the same amount as the original offer.

Rohrabacher said he learned of the family’s situation after

meeting Berhane’s son Petros Berhane, a downtown Huntington Beach

resident who shares Rohrabacher’s affinity for catching waves.

“He’s a surfer, like I am, and we did a lot of surfing together,”

Rohrabacher said.

Petros Berhane was contacted at his home, but declined to comment.

In addition to withholding U.S. economic aid, which last year

totaled about $100 million, Rohrabacher’s resolution also blocks

money from the Global AIDS initiative, financing from the

Export-Import Bank, Foreign Military Financing and the Overseas

Private Investment Corp. Rohrabacher’s bill does not block emergency

food aid.

The proposal has drawn an outcry from the Ethiopian-American

community, including humanitarian activist Yeharerwerk Gashaw.

“There are institutions already in place to handle claims like

these,” said Gashaw, who lives in Texas. “This resolution runs

contrary to the welfare of over 70 million Ethiopians and the many

Americans who continue to invest in the country.”

Rohrabacher said he is undeterred by the criticism, calling the

international community “a bunch of wimps” who “negotiate like Pee

Wee Herman.”

“Why should we send them any money to help them when they indicate

they won’t deal honestly with U.S. citizens?” he said.

QUESTION

What do you think of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s plan to block funds

to Ethiopia to help a surfing buddy’s family? Call our Reader’s

Hotline at (714) 966-4691 or send e-mail to

[email protected]. Please spell your name and include your

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* DAVE BROOKS covers City Hall. He can be reached at (714)

966-4609 or by e-mail at [email protected].