February 18, 2026
VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL
EXECUTIVE SECRETARIAT
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
execsec@state.gov
February 18, 2026
The Honorable Marco Rubio
Secretary of State United States Department of State
Washington, D.C.
RE: Policy Request — U.S. Diplomatic Accountability and Strategic Reassessment of the Pretoria Agreement in the Horn of Africa
Mr. Secretary,
I write to urge immediate corrective action in U.S. policy toward Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa based on conditions on the ground and a clear pattern of diplomatic failure resulting from a defunct Obama-Biden-era diplomatic framework.
This letter advances two inseparable requests: the abandonment of the failed Pretoria Agreement and the removal of Ambassador Ervin J. Massinga, whose conduct has undermined U.S. credibility, moral authority, and its capacity to deter further instability in the region.
I write as an American citizen who voted for the Democratic Party for a quarter of a century before registering as a Republican on March 30, 2021. That same year, tens of thousands of Ethiopian Americans made a similar shift. My decision was driven by principle.
I reject the use of government power – domestic or foreign – to impose contested social ideologies through coercion rather than consent. I oppose the weaponization of agencies and foreign aid, including USAID, to force cultural norms. I also reject a foreign policy that appears donor-driven and transactional rather than principled.
In this regard, I commend President Trump’s willingness to confront systemic failures within USAID and to reassess foreign assistance programs that have drifted from humanitarian and development goals. I also recognize the President’s unambiguous declaration that the United States recognizes only two genders – male and female – a position widely welcomed across several continents as an affirmation of cultural respect and moral clarity.
Regarding Ambassador Ervin J. Massinga, the Ambassador has forfeited the moral authority required of his office. Diplomacy demands credibility and courage; when they mattered most, he showed neither.
On May 23, 2025, the U.S. Embassy condemned drone strikes on civilians – the right and moral position. Yet on June 12, the Ambassador retreated from that truth, dismissing it as an “administrative error.” This was not diplomacy; it was cowardice – a shameful effort to appease a leader whose drones have left innocent civilians dead. Even today, just this week, the Ambassador hides behind silence as Prime Minister Abiy’s drones wipe out civilian communities in the Amhara region, less than 80 miles from the US Embassy.
When an American ambassador bends to a dictator, erase his own words, and hide in silence while innocent people get wiped out, U.S. credibility collapses. Silence in the face of mass civilian killings is not neutrality, it is complicity. Replacing Ambassador Massinga is therefore a necessity.
Regarding the Pretoria Agreement, one central concern must be stated clearly. During the Pretoria process, the primary diplomatic objective pursued by Ambassador Mike Hammer and Ambassador Ervin J. Massinga was preventing the total military defeat of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front – the TPLF – rather than securing durable stability, protecting civilians, or advancing genuine national reconciliation. These concerns deepen because individuals and networks aligned with the TPLF — including some with criminal convictions — remain active in U.S. political fundraising within Democratic Party circles.
Even absent direct impropriety, the convergence of diplomatic outcomes and domestic political alignments has created a powerful appearance of bias, to the point of making the Obama-Biden State Department’s diplomatic decisions appear as if they were deliverables for a work-for-hire contract.
It would be a historic error for President Trump’s State Department to accept an Obama-Biden era stillborn foreign policy in the Horn of Africa.
The Pretoria Agreement failed because it excluded the Amhara—the largest victim population – despite mass displacement and killings. It rewarded armed actors without accountability. It ignored the Mai Kadra massacre by the TPLF. It undermined regional security by excluding Eritrea. And, instead of ending conflict, it ignited the Amhara Fano existential uprising – the largest armed resistance since Fascist Italy’s invasion in 1945.
A peace agreement that produces war is a policy failure. Repeating it with the same architects is denial.
Mr. Secretary, this is not only about Ethiopia. It is about whether the United States still stands for its principles.
The Pretoria Agreement must be abandoned. Ambassador Massinga must be replaced. And the United States must restore accountability, sovereignty, and civilian protection as the foundation of its policy in the Horn of Africa.
Respectfully,
Dagnachew Teshome
Los Angeles, California
4RuleOfLaw@gmail.com
Distribution:
U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee
U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee
Senate Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy
House Subcommittee on Africa
The White House — Office of Presidential Correspondence
Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
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