Eritrea: What happened in Las Vegas won't always stay in Las Vegas.

The Eritrean American Community Center in Las Vegas is headed by a bunch of dedicated folks who worked day and night to create perhaps the most inclusive Eritrean community center in the diaspora.

In a city glittering with dazzling neon lights and all kinds of distractions, they wanted a quiet and conducive place for the youth to gain access to computers, learn their own language and attend to homework. Adults could also stop by the sprawling center to fill out various forms, seek employment and connect with others.

Recently, the Community leadership decided to have a grand opening and, in a gesture of unity, paid a personal visit to the local office of the PFDJ, inviting them to attend the event scheduled to open next week, January 28.

Upon learning of this, the PFDJ staff  contacted the Eritrean Embassy in DC, which promptly directed the locals to schedule a concert of their own on the same evening, informing them that Wedi Tkul, the veteran singer, will be asked to report to the area.

Within minutes, propaganda units of the PFDJ were deployed to discredit the grand opening and asking members to attend the PFDJ event instead.

In one of the most desperate acts ever witnessed by the Eritreans in the city, PFDJ functionaries were seen removing fliers of the grand opening from cars whose owners were attending a local wedding. City residents could not believe that they would "stoop so low as to remove our fliers and replace them with theirs."

Fortunately--and much to the relief of the heroic organizers of the Community Center--Las Vegas Eritreans are so horrified by the sleazy tactics of the PFDJ that they are planning to attend the grand opening. Reports from the city indicate that the youth are the most disgusted by what they feel is an underhanded activity by the local PFDJ and the Eritrean Embassy.