From 1974 to 1987, Ethiopia was ruled by a ruthless Marxist-Leninist regime known as the “Derg”. They renamed themselves in 1987, but were only finally overthrown in 1991. There are still odd traces of them in Addis Ababa.

The statue of Lenin is long gone, toppled in 1991. But a striking Soviet-style obelisk, known informally as the Derg Monument, still survives. It towers 50 meters tall, decorated with a hammer and sickle, and topped by a giant Red Star. It’s quite impressive. At the moment it is augmented by some placards mourning the death of Fidel Castro.

A few hundred meters away is the other side of the story, the Red Terror Martyrs Memorial Museum, which commemorates the several hundred thousand victims of the “Red Terror”, a lethal rampage primarily aimed at rival Marxist-Leninist groups. It’s a good small museum, outlining the rise of the Derg and then the horrors of the Red Terror itself.