To the First Reunion of Eritrean Veterans of the ELF,

Warm greetings and best wishes to my fellow Jebhawian gathered in this historic Reunion. First and foremost I wish you great success, sure that all you achieve will be a further step towards completing the long journey we started with our war of liberation and will be crowned when we finally meet as free citizens of a democratic Eritrea, united in its diversity, embracing and celebrating its ethnic, religious, cultural, and regional plurality, prospering in harmony and living in peace with itself and its surrounding. Work hard, play hard, have a great time reminiscing, and, who knows, some years from now we might all commemorate this day as the historical day that started the avalanche (this is Colorado - Avalanche country) of positive change.

Among several things that make this Reunion historic, I would like to mention the two that shine brightest, and make me believe that we will do this every year. The first is that we all accept our shared legacy and are ready to look at it objectively and shoulder our collective and individual responsibilities in serenity, humbly acclaiming the great things we did and determined to learn from our many mistakes. The second is that this is a forward looking Reunion where we renew our pledge to be again in the front line of the struggle for democracy.

In the decades in Diaspora, most of you have accumulated knowledge and expertise and honed your talents, and knowing that you were forged in the tough school of Jebha, I look forward to see you putting all this know-how at the service of our struggle for democracy.

Hoping to join you the next Reunion, I wish you again the best,

Let us honor together the pledge we made to all our Martyrs! The sacred Hidri that we will carry the Torch to Victory!

--

Yohannes Zeremariam

Tegadlo Harnet Ertra