2 - The Promise of Liberation and the Reality of Oppression

Abstract

The Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF), which successfully brought about the country’s independence, was expected by the overwhelming majority of the country’s citizens to build a democratic state that liberates and transforms society. As the authors of this book note, many observers also saw the country* during the early years of its independence as a promising “model of African renaissance”.Roughly two decades later, however, Eritrea is widely regarded as one of the most repressive authoritarian states in the world.