History

History of Equatorial Guinea

The first inhabitants of the region that is now Equatorial Guinea are believed to have been Pygmies, of whom only isolated pockets remain in northern Rio Muni. Bantu migrations between the 17th and 19th centuries brought the coastal tribes and later the Fang. Elements of the latter may have generated the Bubi, who emigrated to Bioko from Cameroon and Río Muni in several waves and succeeded former neolithic populations.It is said the Igbo of Nigeria (mostly Aro) slave traders arrived and founded very few tiny settlements in Bioko and Rio Muni which expanded the Aro Confederacy in the 18nth and 19nth centuries. The Annobon population, native to Angola, was introduced by the Portuguese via São Tomé.

The Portuguese explorer, Fernão do Po, seeking a route to India, is credited with having discovered the island of Bioko in 1471. He called it Formosa ("beautiful [isle]", a name later applied to Taiwan), but it quickly took on the name of its European discoverer. The islands of Fernando Póo and Annobón were colonized by the Portuguese in 1474, and passed to Spain in 1778. The Portuguese retained control until 1778, when the island, adjacent islets, and commercial rights to the mainland between the Niger and Ogooué Rivers were ceded to Spain in exchange for territory in South America (Treaty of Pardo). From 1827 to 1843, Britain established a base on the island to combat the slave trade. The mainland portion, Río Muni, became a protectorate in 1885 and a colony in 1900. Conflicting claims to the mainland were settled in 1900 by the Treaty of Paris, and periodically, the mainland territories were united administratively under Spanish rule. Between 1926 and 1959 they were united as the colony of Spanish Guinea.

Colony Time

Spain lacked the wealth and the interest to develop an extensive economic infrastructure in what was commonly known as Spanish Guinea during the first half of the twentieth century. However, through a paternalistic system, particularly on Bioko Island, Spain developed large cacao plantations for which thousands of Nigerian workers were imported as laborers. At independence in 1968, largely as a result of this system, Equatorial Guinea had one of the highest per capita incomes in Africa. The Spanish also helped Equatorial Guinea achieve one of the continent's highest literacy rates and developed a good network of health care facilities.

In 1959, the Spanish territory of the Gulf of Guinea was established with the same statust as the provinces of metropolitan Spain. As the Spanish Equatorial Region, it was ruled by a governor general exercising military and civilian powers. The first local elections were held in 1959, and the first Equatoguinean representatives were seated in the Spanish parliament. Under the Basic Law of December 1963, limited autonomy was authorized under a joint legislative body for the territory's two provinces. The name of the country was changed to Equatorial Guinea. Although Spain's commissioner general had extensive powers, the Equatorial Guinean General Assembly had considerable initiative in formulating laws and regulations.

Independence

In March 1968, under pressure from Equatoguinean nationalists and the United Nations, Spain announced that it would grant independence to Equatorial Guinea. A constitutional convention produced an electoral law and draft constitution. In the presence of a UN observer team, a referendum was held on August 11, 1968, and 63% of the electorate voted in favor of the constitution, which provided for a government with a General Assembly and a Supreme Court with judges appointed by the president.

In September 1968, Francisco Macías Nguema was elected first president of Equatorial Guinea, and independence was granted in October. In July 1970, Macias created a single-party state and by May 1971, key portions of the constitution were abrogated. In 1972 Macias took complete control of the government and assumed the title of President for Life. The Macias regime was characterized by abandonment of all government functions except internal security, which was accomplished by terror; this led to the death or exile of up to one-third of the country's population. Due to pilferage, ignorance, and neglect, the country's infrastructure--electrical, water, road, transportation, and health--fell into ruin. Religion was repressed, and education ceased. The private and public sectors of the economy were devastated. Nigerian contract laborers on Bioko, estimated to have been 60,000, left en masse in early 1976. The economy collapsed, and skilled citizens and foreigners left.

All schools were ordered closed in 1975, and the country's churches were closed in 1978. Nguema introduced a campaign of 'authenticity,' replacing colonial names with native ones: the capital Santa Isabel became Malabo, the main island of Fernando Póo was renamed Masie Nguema Biyogo after himself, and Annobón became Pagalu.. As part of the same process, Nguema also ordered the entire population to drop their European names and adopt African ones. His own name underwent several transformations, so that by the end of his rule he was known as Masie Nguema Biyogo Ñegue Ndong.

In August 1979, Macias' nephew from Mongomo and former director of the infamous Black Beach prison, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, led a successful coup d'etat; Macias was arrested, tried, and executed. Obiang assumed the Presidency in October 1979. The islands were renamed Bioko and Annobón. The new ruler faced the challenge of restoring order in a country that was in shambles--by the end of Masie Nguema's dictatorship, the state coffers were empty and the population had dropped to only one-third of what it was at independence.

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo

Most domestic and international observers consider his regime to be one of the most corrupt, ethnocentric, oppressive and anti-democratic states in the world. Equatorial Guinea is now essentially a single-party state, dominated by Obiang's Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE).

All but two members of the 100-seat national parliament belong to the PDGE or are aligned with it. The opposition is severely hampered by the lack of a free press as a vehicle for their views.

Around 90% of all opposition politicians live in exile, 550 anti-Obiang activists have been jailed unfairly, and several killed since 1979. Obiang was re-elected in 1996 and 2002, but the conduct of both elections was not acceptable to international observers.

In July 2003, state-operated radio declared that the president is a God who is "in permanent contact with the Almighty" and can "kill anyone without being called to account", he personally made similar comments in 1993. Coincidentally, Macias Nguema had also been proclaimed God.

Obiang has encouraged his cult of personality by ensuring that public speeches end in well-wishing for himself for well-wishing for the republic. Many important buildings have a presidential lodge, many towns and cities have streets commemorating Obiang's coup against his own uncle as well as there being a penchant among the population to wear clothes with his face printed on them.

In March 2004, Obiang announced that there was a complex plot to overthrow him that allegedly involved the intelligence services of the United States, the United Kingdom and Spain.

Shortly after 15 people were arrested in Equatorial Guinea in connection with a possible coup attempt, an airplane landed in Harare, Zimbabwe, and was promptly detained by authorities.

The Zimbabwean government claimed that the aircraft was carrying armed white mercenaries who were heading to Equatorial Guinea with the aim of toppling Obiang's government.

However, the American-based operator of the plane maintained that the men were en route to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to guard commercial mining interests for JFPI Corporation.

President Obiang charges that various Western governments wanted to install the head of Equatorial Guinea's government-in-exile, Severo Moto Nsá, as president.

A man that Equatoguinean media identified as the leader of the mercenaries, Nick du Toit, said he had not intended to kill Obiang, but had hoped to force him into exile.

Like his predecessor and other African dictators such as Idi Amin and Mobutu Sese Seko, Obiang has assigned to himself several creative titles; the great major general Alifanfarón, gentleman of the great island of Bioko, Annobón and Río Muni, as well as referring to himself as El Jefe (the boss).

In similar fashion to Amin, Obiang has also allowed rumours that he is a cannibal to circulate.

President Obiang is the Vice President of the International Parliament for Safety and Peace, an intergovernmental organization based in Italy.

Succession

Obiang is suffering from terminal prostate cancer, amongst other illnesses, is reported to weigh as little as 50kg, and is said to be existing in agony.

The issue of succession is dominating the country, with a political struggle within the Equatoguinean elite. Obiang wants his son Teodorín Nguema Obiang, who reportedly lives a frequently irresponsible lifestyle. Someone with loyalty to the regime may be designated by the PDGE from within the Esangui clan. There is even a possibility that fully democratic rule will come to the country for the first time, but this is probably the most unlikely scenario.

In November 2005, Obiang held an important meeting with the PDGE, in which it was believed that he intended to create a position of vice president and fill that position with his son. His worsening medical condition demands he travel abroad twice a month, leaving the country more vulnerable to coups.

He is expected to hand over to his son in 2006 - a move opposed by the other main contender: Armengol Ondo Nguema. He also held a private meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in December 2005.

Forbes magazine has said that he is one of the wealthiest heads of state with a net worth of 600 million dollars.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "History of Equatorial Guinea" and the article Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.