Equatorial Guinea in the crosshairs

Ron Bunvon

Imperialist conspiracies to seize control of natural resources 
and to dominate peoples of distant lands are in full swing. Apart 
from the Iraqi debacle, the events unfolding in the former 
Spanish colony of Equatorial Guinea, on the West African coast, 
are particularly instructive.

The discovery of huge oil deposits there in recent years, on the 
mainland and offshore, has been a catalyst for profit-driven 
proponents of imperial conquest. Some of their agents were caught 
red-handed last spring.

Government investigators have established that dozens of 
mercenaries and co-conspirators planned to oust President Teodoro 
Obiang Nguema Mbasogo through the use of assassination and brute 
force. The coup plot unravelled when a planeload of 60 South 
African mercenaries and weapons were discovered by airport 
security on the tarmac of Zimbabwe's Harare International Airport 
on March 7, en route to Equatorial Guinea.

But that is just the tip of the iceberg. Evidence is mounting 
that British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US Defense Secretary 
Donald Rumsfeld were both aware of the plot's outlines months 
before it began to unfold.

In a statement given to lawyers in Equatorial Guinea, and 
reported by the British newspaper The Observer, Johann 
Smith, a former commanding officer in the South African Special 
Forces, said that he "submitted a report in December 2003 of what 
I discovered [about the plot] to Michael Westphal of the 
Pentagon. ... I expected the US Government to take steps to warn 
Equatorial Guinea or to stop the coup.

"This was also my expectation as regards the British Government, 
which I warned through two Secret Intelligence Service (M16) 
people I knew."

Michael Westphal is US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence in 
charge of special operations and combating terrorism.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw denied prior knowledge of 
the coup conspiracy as recently as last August. In November, 
however, he conceded he knew quite a bit more. The British 
Parliament has called for an investigation.

The trial proceedings against the coup plotters have taken place 
in Malabo, the nation's capital, and in Zimbabwe and South 
Africa, as well. The sentences handed out range from one year to 
64 years. A political opponent to President Obiang, Severo Moto, 
who maintains a government-in-exile with his own appointed 
cabinet in Spain, received a 64-year sentence in absentia.

Mark Thatcher, an alleged financier of the coup plan, faces trial 
in South Africa. He was detained as he was about to flee his home 
in Capetown, and is presently under house arrest. A very wealthy 
man, Thatcher is the son of former British Prime Minister 
Margaret Thatcher.

Equatorial Guinea gained political independence in 1968, under 
the presidency of Francisco Nguema. Opposition parties were 
banned in 1970, and Nguema declared himself President for life in 
1972. In 1979, Lt Col Teodoro Obaing, his nephew, initiated a 
coup d'itat, and has been in power ever since.

The country's leadership is notorious for its corruption and for 
committing human rights abuses and torture. The recent trials in 
Malabo were criticised by Amnesty International as unfair "in 
view of serious procedural flaws and the admission of confessions 
allegedly extracted under torture". An alleged co-conspirator of 
the coup attempt died in custody under questionable 
circumstances.

Before the discovery and extraction of its oil, the country's 
economy was primarily based on agricultural exports, namely 
cocoa, coffee, and timber. Today, about 90 percent of Equatorial 
Guinea's export revenue comes from oil, with output at about 
360,000 barrels a day.

Whether its oil revenue has benefited the indigenous population 
is highly questionable. The government's finances are anything 
but transparent, and its share of oil revenue (most of which is 
kept by the oil monopolies) has been estimated to be as low as 15 
percent. Most of the population lives in extreme poverty and 
lacks electricity, running water or adequate nutrition.

From the vantage point of the imperialist West, however, the flow 
of oil remains paramount. An estimated 15 percent of US oil 
imports come from Africa, with Nigeria, Angola, and Equatorial 
Guinea at the top of the list.

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People's Weekly World