Infiltrating one’s opponents existed as far back as conflict existed in human history. It is used for espionage and dividing the opponents for the purposes of weakening and having victory upon the opponents in any form. Those organized groups or parties with superior infiltration ability get the upper hand in most cases.
It is mostly a process of getting one’s member to enter in the enemy territory or enter opponent group as their member and work as a spy or facilitate the division of the opponent organization making them to break apart and weaken. In some cases the infiltrator may go up the ladder of power and share power.
My point of discussion over here is not the art of infiltration but about the ability of TPLF/EPDRF to infiltrate opposition parties at home and abroad. It is obvious that the first organization the TPLF with Shabia had well infiltrated was the derg government of the Ethiopian empire of Mengistu H/Mariam. At the end of the fall of the derg government, TPLF used to get victory again and again. Sometimes the military of the derg government get attacked before they reach the battle front or they surrender easily. This shows that the TPLF and Shabia have enough information about the deployment of the derg army before it happens. That means there was a high level of TPLF/Shabia infiltration in the derg government and military. So, they won that war easily and controlled the empire.
In 1991/92, Oromo liberation front was the member of the transitional government of Ethiopia. It was also a strong opponent of the TPLF/EPDRF led government. OLF used to control the country side of most parts of Oromia, while TPLF/EPDRF controls all other regions plus important parts of Oromia (cities, towns and areas along the main roads). This time was the time when most Oromos supported and joined OLF. It was nationalistic and hot time for Oromos because it was the time when Oromos start knowing one another from North to South, East to West. It was an emotional time in the history of Oromos. During this time it was just an easy job for TPLF/EPDRF to infiltrate OLF. So, weyane easily camouflaged itself into OLF and this was one of the reasons that enabled weyane to overcame OLF in 1992 when conflict arisen between them.
Since then OLF was breaking apart day by day. AWO (adda walabummaa Oromo) break away from OLF. Then OLF ‘change’ break away, and recently the ODF (Oromo democratic front) was formed by an old OLF members. The division of the organization grew its root to the Oromo public especially in diaspora. It appears that the TPLF has managed to infiltrate OLF to the top level. What is worrying is at what level they infiltrated OLF and when this division is going to stop.
It is very easy for TPLF/EPDRF to infiltrate home based oppositions. They are well experienced at it. I don’t be surprised if half of the members of opposition parties at home are the members of TPLF too. TPLF/EPDRF with party members of more than 5million can easily manage to register their members into other home based parties. To imagine how far they can go up in the ladder of power of the opposition parties is difficult.
The main opposition parties are not based at home. 10s of them reside abroad. Some like OLF (Oromo liberation front), ONLF (Ogaden national liberation front) and SLM (Sidama liberation movement) are organizations that have bases in diaspora and military wings in the deserts and forests of their respective nations. That means they wage armed war against weyane at home while they are active diplomatically abroad.
There are other diaspora based organizations like Ginbot 7 which controls the vast diaspora economic support with the media power of ESAT satellite television. This opposition organization for sure is a big interest for TPLF just for its media power alone which of course is supported by diaspora economic power house of those who support the Ethiopian empire unity based on the old system. This organization not only controls the diaspora wealth of the old Ethiopianists, but also the power of acquiring information (due to the economic support it has from the diaspora). Information by itself is a source of power and having the mouthpiece like ESAT to disseminate it is an immense power.
The TPLF/EPDRF government of Ethiopia can actually easily infiltrate all these, though it is difficult to do that to the military wing of OLF, ONLF, and SLM. As far as the military wing is under the command of the central leadership of the organizations, if the TPLF infiltration has managed to reach the main leadership, they still can affect the decision making process and enable the direct information flow to TPLF. They can also initiate conflict and division among the leadership of any organization.
It is very interesting to witness the political interest of people in diaspora at this time in history. Many people are travelling abroad for study from Ethiopia. In most cases these people embark on becoming the member of an opposition political organization from their ethnicity. They try to appear that they are really critical of the TPLF led government of Ethiopia. Practically they are just gathering information about any opposition member at any level. Their targets are mostly OLF, ODF, ONLf, G7 and the like. Over here it is also important to mention that TPLF/EPDRF has trained many people linguistically so that they can fit into any ethnic group opposition organization they want to infiltrate.
Overall, organization like TPLF/EPDRF with more than 5 million active members and with a good incentives (good job, better pay, educational chance at home and abroad ETC.) can infiltrate any opposition parties (abroad or at home). They can also go up the ladder of leadership to influence the decision making process and insure the flow of information to TPLF once they are a member. TPLF/EPDRF members at this time are well educated just like any body and they can blend with any group or any opposition organization. That means there are no criteria to exclude them from being a member of any party. They all travel abroad with a clear mandate. They are not in 100s, but in thousands. They can reach any corner where any diaspora opposition lives. So it is up to the opposition organizations to watch out.