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Until
recently nothing much seemed to change, except now for the
beauty and the cocoa, both for the worse. The country's
beauty is being mercilessly spoiled by pollution from the
offshore oil industry and intensive timber exploitation.
The oil industry is controlled by head of State,
Teodoro
Obiang Nguema,
who seized power from his uncle,
through a coup in 1979. Timber production is controlled by
the Minister of Forestry, Obiang's eldest son. Cocoa
production, formerly run by colonial entrepreneurs, has
nose-dived since independence when international pressure
ended Spanish rule.
"Wealth
is channeled overseas to benefit Obiang and his entourage
and the foreign corporations that back them.
Following
independence, dictatorship and neo-colonialism
(globalization in modern parlance) have grown and are now
even stronger than before. The prison at Black Beach is a
glaring example of their perverse synergy, compounded by
the effects of extreme poverty on the general population.
Dictatorship and neo-colonialism work hand in hand,
greased by oil. Wealth from the oil industry over the last
ten years has not trickled down to the population, its
legitimate owner. Instead, it is channeled overseas to
benefit Obiang and his entourage and the foreign
corporations that back them. Equatorial Guinea is the
paradigm of the "curse of natural riches."
Governments
in Western capitals know this very well. International
agencies and human rights organizations routinely
criticize General Obiang's rule. However, those Western
governments increasingly support him, steadily developing
economic, political and military ties with his regime.
When it suits them, the United States and Spanish
governments, two of Obiang's major trading partners and
close supporters, declare a willingness to cooperate with
Equatorial Guinea's government in what they call its
"democratization process."
This
and similar statements appear in the media to mark
political summits and official visits. The Spanish Foreign
Affairs Minister told the Spanish Parliament after a visit
to Equatorial Guinea in 2005, "the President asked
Spain to accompany him in his endeavors to modernize the
State and reform the administration." In response,
the Minister said the Spanish government was fully devoted
to this task, although remaining "extremely critical
and mindful concerning the rule of law and encouragement
of those citizens willing to contribute to Equatorial
Guinea's democracy and political life."
Some
of this "democratization process” was reported
in a press conference in June 2006 by Weja Chicampo,
leader of the banned MAIB (Movement for the
Self-determination of Bioko Island). Chicampo arrived in
Madrid after being expelled from his own country by
Obiang. During the two years, three months and two days he
spent in Black Beach, without proper charges, trial or
legal assistance, he says, "they (the jailers) beat
me until I lost my vision; then, after some more beating,
I lost consciousness. My family and children were
terrified. From that moment on a long agony starts and it
will last for days, weeks…. In order to give you an
idea I can say that I was handcuffed for four months in a
row. There were many other instances of torture like
this." (Chicampo
press conference of June 22nd, 2006.)
"Prisoners
have no contact with the outside world."
The
number of political prisoners in Equatorial Guinea has
averaged 200 in the last six years. A proportionate
comparison would mean a figure of 20,000 in Spain [150,000
in the U.S. – BAR editors]. It must be noted
that some detention centers escape any kind of control.
Prisoners have no contact with the outside world. They
remain at the mercy of their jailers and the jailers'
boss: General Obiang. Chicampo reports that "there
are transfers from Black Beach to other detention centers,
in order to obstruct access of Red Cross teams to the
prisoners while visiting facilities. I was transferred to
a military prison (Acacio Mañé Military
Unit) on April the 5th, 2004. Other prisoners that should
not be seen were transferred to Punta Fernanda and other
places."
The
Spanish government has plenty of information about this
reality and about the torture. But this does not prevent
it from cooperating with the dictatorship in Equatorial
Guinea even as, together with other European Union
governments, it demands the closure of the US government's
Guantánamo prison in Cuba.
The
United States government too has the same information. Its
Department of State has even made it partially public in
its annual reports. The one released in March 2006 notes
of Equatorial
Guinea:
"The
government's human rights' record remained poor, and the
government continued to commit or condone serious
abuses... security forces reportedly killed several
persons through abuse and excessive force.… The
following human rights problems were reported: arbitrary
arrest, detention, and incommunicado detention.…
There were reports of politically motivated kidnappings,
there were continuing reports of government figures hiring
persons in foreign countries to intimidate, threaten, and
even assassinate citizens in exile."
What
can "abuse and excessive force" be except
mealy-mouthed diplomatic jargon for torture?
Despite
this, inter-governmental relations are excellent,
according to the US ambassador in Malabo. In his 2005
Independence Day remarks at the US embassy, in front of
Obiang and some members of Obiang's regime, he said: "We
value our relations with Equatorial Guinea and are pleased
that they are excellent and indeed, growing closer. I
personally had the pleasure of accompanying his Excellency
President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo on his June visit to
Baltimore and Washington. In both cities, the President
was well-received. Among both business and government
leaders, he made an excellent impression and called
effective attention to further opportunities to strengthen
our relationship."
Beyond
the specious political discourse, attention should really
focus on the United States' role in Equatorial Guinea: the
enormous growth of its oil industry and the consolidation
of dictatorship in the face of mounting internal
opposition and foreign criticism. United States oil
companies operating in Equatorial Guinea have made it the
third largest African oil producer south of the Sahara
(behind only Nigeria and Angola) in just ten years of
industrial activity. The US embassy, formerly closed
because of political differences with the Obiang regime,
as was hinted at in the State Department report quoted
above, was reopened once the oil companies established
themselves, even though the dictatorship did not change
its policies.
"United
States oil companies operating in Equatorial Guinea have
made it the third largest African oil producer south of
the Sahara."
A
review of the hard facts corrects the ambassador's rosy
picture. ExxonMobil, Chevron-Texaco, Amerada Hess,
Marathon Oil and other companies transfer vast profits to
the United States from exploiting Equatorial Guinea's oil.
For exploitation rights these companies pay huge sums of
money directly to Obiang and his family into United States
bank accounts. It is crystal clear that these sums should
benefit all the people of Equatorial Guinea, not just the
ruling family. But that is not happening.
The
European Union has
reported:
"Equatorial
Guinea's GDP growth was the world's highest between 1995
and 2001 and well above average growth in the region
...although it had one of the lowest only ten years ago.
However, this increase in resources has not yet been
matched in the social sphere by a similar improvement in
the living conditions of the population, which still show
worrying indicators."
Equally
illustrative of the level of corruption among the
country's elite are the findings of the United States
Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in their
"Money Laundering and Foreign Corruption"
report, made public on July 15th, 2004. Among other
issues, the report deals with Obiang's – and his
family's – accounts in
Riggs
Bank:
"The Subcommittee investigation found that Riggs
opened multiple personal accounts for the President of
Equatorial Guinea, his wife, and other relatives."
The total amount of bank deposits held by Obiang in the
United States and other countries is unknown, but it is
believed to exceed seven hundred million US dollars, in
addition to the value of luxurious villas and other real
estate investments.
In
the meantime, Equatorial Guinea's Human Development Index
is near the bottom of the medium human development group:
position 121 out of 177 countries in the UNDP 2005 Human
Development Report. The country has experienced some
minimal improvement: in 1999, it was in position 131 out
of 174 with GDP per capita (PPP$) 1.817 in 1999, while in
2005 it was 19.780. The fact that not a single country in
this medium human development group has a similar current
GDP per capita indicates the grotesque injustice of wealth
distribution in Equatorial Guinea.
"The
people barely enjoy even the most meager crumbs while the
dictator's family and the oil companies feast."
Self-evidently,
the triangle in Equatorial Guinea formed by Obiang's
dictatorship, the country's oil wealth and Western
economic interests results in prisons like Black Beach and
another one in Bata (second most important city in the
country). In other words: the Obiang clan's machinations,
thoroughly greased by United States oil companies, have
turned them into plutocrats amidst an impoverished,
oppressed population, who barely enjoy even the most
meager crumbs while the dictator's family and the oil
companies feast.
General
Obiang is a dictator. Backed by Western governments, he
denies fundamental human rights to his compatriots. The
United States government and its allies hypocritically
tolerate Obiang's dictatorship so long as their
international companies enjoy rights to exploit Equatorial
Guinea's oil wealth. While an exclusive minority obtain
huge benefits, the majority only enjoy a notional
"democratization process," which in practice
means occasional fraudulent elections, Presidential
birthday "pardons" for prisoners, and empty
political speeches on Independence Day, all under the
complacent gaze of Western ambassadors.
Agustin
Velloso is a lecturer at the Spanish National University
for Distance Learning. He can be reached
at:a.velloso@reading.ac.uk
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