Equatorial Guinea: Drowning in Oil
36 minutes, 2003
Ref: 72tvc

In 1985, the United States discovered large oil reserves in Equatorial Guinea. This marked the beginning of a new era in the former Spanish colony, which until then was one of the poorest countries in the world. Since then, big American oil corporations and other western companies have landed in Equatorial Guinea and transformed the country. It now has one of the highest GDPs in the world and many people are starting to call it Africa's version of Kuwait. Since the bloody coup d'etat of 1979, ousting the dictator Francisco Macías, the country's fate has been in the hands of Teodoro Obiang and his clan. Today their dubious administration of oil profits is leaving the new wealth in the hands of the few. "Controlling power in Guinea means sharing the money from oil," says Plácido Micó, leader of the Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS), the country's leading opposition party. He is one of the few who has openly criticized the widespread corruption in Teodoro Obiang's government. This has cost him long stays in Black Beach prison, one of the most sinister in all of Africa. After his release the regime offered him a cut of the oil wealth in exchange for silence. But Plácido Micó denounced the torture and humiliation he was subjected to while in prison in front of our cameras. For some westerners, the violation of human rights in Equatorial Guinea has stopped being an obstacle to doing business. New residential neighbourhoods are sprouting up on the outskirts of Malabo. They are a symbol of the new economy. Cacao cultivation has yielded to a one-crop industry: oil. Nothing is manufactured in Guinea, where all products are imported. And with people moving to the cities in search of jobs in the oil industry, it is now hard to find labourers to work the fields.