In early 2019, coverage in Spanish-language and other outlets noted the unveiling of a statue of Emperor Haile Selassie, a reminder of how contested and enduring the last emperor’s image remains in Ethiopian and diaspora memory—from modernizer and League of Nations figure to autocrat overthrown in 1974.
Statue politics in Ethiopia are never only about bronze: they signal which histories the state and cities choose to honor after regime change, war, and renaming drives.
For Mereja readers, the item is kept as culture/history reference alongside the wider global Rastafari reverence for Haile Selassie and domestic arguments over imperial legacy.
Sources: Historical context – Britannica, UNESCO / African heritage context
