 |
|
Guinée Equatoriale, troisième producteur
du pétrole d'Afrique subsaharienne |
|
 |
| |
El vecino malo de
Malibú. Andanzas de Teodorin en los Estados
Unidos. |
|
|
|
| |
|
5 de
marzo de 2007
http://www.asodegue.org/marzo05073.htm
La
publicación norteamericana
Laweekly.news, editada en Los
Ángeles, incluía en su edición del
17 de enero de 2007 el reportaje
siguiente:
"Un
dictador en prácticas compra una
casa en Malibu, mientras las
superestrellas políticamente activas
permanecen calladas. POR DIANA
LJUNGAEUS. Miércoles, 17 de enero
de 2007.
J'accuse: Mientras
Streisand, Hagman, Cameron y otros
permanecen callados sobre la
propiedad situada encima del malecón,
el profesor Don Robert E. Williams
habla alto y claro sobre ella. (Fotografías
por Rena Kosnett)
|
La
prestigiosa
comunidad de “Serra
Retreat” en Malibu
cuenta con una verja
y dos casetas de
seguridad para
mantener fuera a las
visitas no deseadas,
sin embargo su
Comunidad de
Propietarios no
tiene control sobre
quien pasa a formar
parte de la misma.
Quizás ese sea el
motivo por el que no
ha habido ninguna
protesta entre sus
habitantes
políticamente
concienciados cuando
Teodoro Nguema
Obiang Mangue, el
cuasi príncipe de
Guinea Ecuatorial,
silenciosamente,
compró una parcela
de 6,47 hectárea en
el 3620 de
Sweetwater Mesa Road
en abril de 2006 por
35 millones de
dólares y en dinero
efectivo – record el
año pasado en el
Estado de California.
El
exótico playboy,
amante de los coches
y recién llegado al
exclusivo acantilado
sobre el Malecón de
Malibu, heredero de
uno de los
dictadores más
crueles del mundo,
ahora se sienta
detrás de dos
casetas de seguridad
junto con Dick van
Dyke, James Cameron,
Larry Hagman, Mel
Gibson y otros
grandes.
Sin embargo, una
ciudad consciente de
su imagen que hace
sólo semanas
oficialmente cambió
su nombre de “De
Butts Terrace” por
el de “Paradise View
Way” con la
finalidad de
acomodarse a las
sensibilidades más
finas de sus
residentes, ha
estado
sorprendentemente
callada sobre su
infame nuevo
residente.
Su
padre, el presidente
Teodoro Obiang de
Guinea Ecuatorial,
está muriéndose de
cáncer de próstata y
es su deseo expreso,
según los grupos pro
derechos humanos,
que el Teodoro más
joven tome el
control del país
como presidente y
dictador. A menos
que Obiang sea
depuesto durante uno
de sus muchos viajes
para tratar de su
enfermedad, la
palabra de Teodoro
el Grande seguirá
siendo la única ley
en la diminuta
nación, rica en
dinero en efectivo,
que controla con
mano férrea. Y su
hijo, llamado
Teodorin o Teodoro
el Pequeño, se
considera que es el
siguiente en la
línea para
desempeñar ese mismo
trabajo.
Quizás los vecinos
políticamente
activos de Malibu
ignoran que Guinea
Ecuatorial, en la
costa occidental de
África, con sólo
540,000 habitantes,
no tiene ni prensa
libre ni libertad de
expresión. Sus
nacionales están
situados entre la
población más pobre
del mundo,
sobreviviendo con
menos de 1 dólar por
día, pero, sin
embargo, debido a su
abundante petróleo y
gas natural, el país
es el segundo en el
ranking mundial del
producto nacional
bruto per cápita,
sólo detrás de
Luxemburgo.
Pero, al contrario
que en Luxemburgo,
nada de ese dinero
llega a sus
habitantes. Es por
ello que la familia
de Obiang,
incluyendo a Teodoro
el Pequeño, y sus
amigos más íntimos,
están entre los más
ricos del mundo,
recibiendo tributos,
de enormes
inversiones, pagados
por compañías de
petróleo
norteamericanas.
Según las
organizaciones
anticorrupción
Global Witness,
Transparency
International,
Amnistía
Internacional y
testimonios de las
investigaciones
llevadas a cabo por
el congreso
americano, la
familia ha
trasladado cientos
de millones de
dólares a sus
propios bolsillos.
Estas organizaciones
manifiestan que
Exxon Mobil encabeza
la lista de
proveedores, pagando
entre 20 y 35 por
ciento de su
ingresos,
provenientes del
petróleo y del gas
natural, al gobierno
de Guinea
Ecuatorial, un
entramado corrupto y
burocrático en el
que miembros de la
familia Obiang
ocupan más de la
mitad de los puestos
ministeriales y el
control de los
ingresos
provenientes de los
principales sectores
económicos. Según
los testimonios del
Congreso, el
“Pequeño Teodoro” de
Malibu controla la
industria de la
madera.
El
hijo mayor del
dictador, de 36 años
de edad, ocupa el
puesto de Ministro
de Silvicultura, o
“Ministro de Tala de
Árboles”, como es
apodado por el
New York Daily News,
con un sueldo
oficial de sólo
5,000 dólares
mensuales.
El
año pasado, cuando
compró por 35
millones de dólares
la propiedad de
Malibu, la
transacción fue
descrita por
Forbes como la
sexta venta más cara
de una casa en
América, levantando
una enorme ola de
críticas entre
grupos de derechos
humanos sobre el
método utilizado por
Teodorin para
conseguir dicha
cantidad.
El
"Ministro de Tala de
Árboles" admite
abiertamente que
controla las
riquezas de los
recursos naturales
de su país. Hizo
estas declaraciones
(obtenidas por la
La Weekly) el
año pasado ante un
Juzgado de Sudáfrica:
“A los
Ministros y
funcionarios de
Guinea Ecuatorial
les está permitido
por ley ser dueños
de empresas, que en
consorcio con
compañías
extranjeras, pueden
licitar a los
contratos del
gobierno… esto
significa que los
miembros del
gabinete ministerial
acaban con gran
parte del precio de
ese contrato en su
cuenta bancaria”.
Además de controlar
la industria de la
madera, Teodorin
Obiang Mangue posee
la única cadena de
TV de la nación, así
como Radio Asonga,
la principal emisora
de la nación. Hace
tres años, según el
periódico británico,
The Guardian,
y otros informes, la
emisora de radio
Asonga afirmó que su
padre, el Presidente
Obiang, es un Dios "en
contacto permanente
con el Todopoderoso"
y que tiene
autoridad para "matar
a cualquiera sin
necesidad de dar
explicaciones."
Los medios de
comunicación
internacionales,
incluso The
Guardian y el
alemán Der
Spiegel , han
investigado
extensamente al
“Pequeño Teodoro”,
sin embargo, los
medios de
comunicación de
California no se han
hecho eco de ello.
Sólo una mención de
su llegada a Malibu,
aparecía a finales
del año pasado en un
editorial de tono
crítico en los
Los Angeles Times,
que sin embargo no
daba más información
en el resto del
periódico. De los
periódicos de
Malibu, sólo el
Graphic de la
Universidad de
Pepperdine ha
mencionado que la
elevada compraventa
de la casa la había
hecho un comprador
sumamente polémico
con un lado oscuro
ampliamente
investigado
internacionalmente.
Robert E. Williams,
profesor asociado de
ciencias políticas
de la Universidad
Pepperdine, intentó
alertar a los
periódicos de
Malibu, pero los
reporteros no le
devolvieron las
llamadas. "Supongo
que los pequeños
periódicos locales
no quieren
investigar esta
historia, ya que una
gran parte de sus
ingresos proviene de
la publicidad de los
bienes inmuebles",
dice Williams.
Williams critica al
conocido agente
inmobiliario Jeff
Hyland que se ocupó
de la venta
diciendo, "no
pienso que sea
demasiado pedir que
los agentes
inmobiliarios no
traten con
dictadores", y
añade, "necesitamos
un mayor
conocimiento público
para presionar a
Washington" de
modo que la
iniciativa contra la
corrupción
gubernamental
promovida por el
Congreso y la
administración Bush
sirva, como se
prometió, para
impedir a los
dictadores utilizar
los fondos obtenidos
ilegalmente en
países pobres.
Hyland, de Hilton
and Hyland que
en el pasado fue
Presidente del
Consejo de Agentes
Inmobiliarios de
Beverly Hills y
ex-Director de la
Asociación
Californiana de
Agentes
Inmobiliarios, que
afirma en su página
web poseer “habilidad
y sensibilidad a la
hora de vender
bienes inmuebles
sofisticados”,
no respondió a las
preguntas realizadas
por el Weekly.
Sin embargo los
informes demuestran
que ganó el 4 por
ciento de la venta,
lo que supondría la
friolera de 1.4
millones de dólares.
El abogado de
Teodorin Obiang
Mangue, George I.
Nagler y el Consejo
de Agentes
Inmobiliarios de
Beverly Hills
tampoco contestaron
a nuestras llamadas
telefónicas.
Lo
que consiguió tan
fácilmente el
Pequeño Teodoro en
Malibu le fue negado
en Nueva York.
Cuando hace unos
años intentó comprar
un fabuloso
apartamento en la
Quinta Avenida, la
Comunidad de
Propietarios lo
impidió al
considerarle
inapropiado.
Sus críticos en
otros países han
centrado sus
esfuerzos en
intensivas
investigaciones
sobre la compra de
bienes inmuebles
realizada por el
Pequeño Teodoro.
Cuando compró dos
casas lujosas en
Ciudad del Cabo,
Suráfrica, hace dos
años, no usó su
propio nombre en las
escrituras, sin
embargo un
prominente abogado
sudafricano, Chris
Schoeman, está tras
su pista.
Schoeman, que está
persiguiendo “las
deudas del gobierno”
mediante un
procedimiento civil
e intenta que se
expropien las dos
casas del Pequeño
Teodoro en nombre de
un cliente que según
dice fue estafado
por él, cree que
Teodorin Obiang
Mangue compró la
mansión Sweetwater
Mesa Road, de 15,000
pies cuadrados, con
un campo de golf de
4 hoyos privado,
piscinas y vistas al
mar, con dinero
robado de la
tesorería de Guinea
Ecuatorial.
Schoeman manifestó
al Weekly: “La
compra de la
propiedad en Malibu
apoya nuestra tesis
de que la burocracia
corrupta gobernante
en Guinea Ecuatorial
se siente satisfecha
de continuar con el
pillaje de las arcas
nacionales". Los
bienes y activos de
Obiang Mangue en
Suráfrica fueron
confiscados en
febrero por el Alto
Tribunal de
Sudáfrica, en una
sentencia pendiente
de ratificación.
Teodorin Obiang
Mangue manifestó al
Tribunal de
Suráfrica que no
utilizó su nombre en
los documentos
inmobiliarios
porque: "No quise
asociar mi nombre de
ninguna manera con
las propiedades… ya
que no quería que
los caza noticias,
los periodistas y
fotógrafos supieran
donde vivía en
Ciudad del Cabo… por
la simple razón de
que no quería estar
acosado por los
periodistas etc.
invadiendo mi
privacidad siempre
que viniese a Ciudad
del Cabo”.
Su
deseo de privacidad
(fotos suyas son
extremadamente
infrecuentes) ha
sido más efectiva en
Malibu.
Según un residente
cercano a Serra
Road, nadie supo
nada de Teodorin. "Esta
es el primera vez
que he oído hablar
de él" dijo una
mujer que expresó su
temor a dar su
nombre, manifestando
también "Esos
dictadores africanos
actúan bajo un
estándar de valores
diferente".
Tampoco la comisaría
del sheriff de
Malibu tenía
conocimiento de que
Obiang Mangue
estuviese en la
zona. "Solo se
nos avisa cuando hay
problemas"
manifiesta el
Diputado de
relaciones de la
comunidad, Shawn
Brownell.
La
letrada de la ciudad
de Malibu, Christi
Hogin, manifestó “no
tengo información
sobre esa
transacción en
particular”,
pero que
independientemente
de las leyes
americanas
contrarias a la
corrupción "las
ciudades no tienen
autoridad para
impedir que
individuos compren
propiedades y se
trasladen a ellas.
La compra de bienes
inmuebles es una
transacción privada”.
Según el registro,
Teodoro Obiang
Mangue para adquirir
la propiedad usó la
sociedad, Sweetwater
LLC, de reciente
creación. Es también
propietario de las
sociedades
Sweetwater Malibu
LLC y Sweetwater
Management Inc.
Asimismo creó las
compañías de
entretenimiento TNO
Records y TNO
Entertainment (TNO:
Teodoro Nguema
Obiang), con las que
produjo dos discos
de techno en 2003.
Aunque no llegó a
producir ninguno de
sus álbumes, mantuvo
una relación durante
años, con la rapera
Eve, ganadora
de un Grammy e
interprete de la
película
Barbershop. Se
dice que rompió con
él debido a los
rumores publicados
en Nueva York y en
otros medios de
comunicación
extranjeros de que
su padre era un
caníbal, relatos
morbosos contados
por refugiados que
huían del país.
"No
hay ninguna prueba
de que practique el
canibalismo, pero si
muchos rumores"
nos manifestó la
doctora Sarah Wykes
de Global Witness en
Londres. Wykes ha
estudiado durante
años a la familia
Obiang, y "considera
que Obiang alimenta
estos rumores para
mantener el miedo de
la gente". (El
rumor consiste en
que el presidente
Obiang comió el
corazón y el cerebro
de su tío, Francisco
Nguema, persona
extraordinariamente
sanguinaria, después
de derrocarlo como
presidente en 1979).
En
los últimos años, el
Presidente Obiang ha
sido objeto de
investigaciones por
parte de la CIA,
Naciones Unidas,
Amnistía
Internacional,
Global Witness,
Transparency
Internacional, entre
otros. Wykes
manifiesta que de
esta manera se han
obtenido evidencias
de asesinatos,
torturas,
encarcelamientos de
opositores políticos
y otros abusos de
los derechos
humanos, cometidos
por el gobierno de
Obiang.
Amnistía
Internacional
descubrió que los
opositores políticos
eran constantemente
encarcelados y que a
la gente normal se
la expulsa de sus
casas sin ningún
tipo de advertencia,
para hacer sitio al
“desarrollo
urbanístico” de
los Obiangs.
Transparency
International lo
sitúo en el número
152, entre 159
países, en su índice
de Derechos Humanos,
siendo considerado
como uno de los
peores y más
corruptos gobiernos
que están
controlados por un
grupo familiar. El
tráfico sexual y el
trabajo infantil,
según informes de la
CIA, están tan
extendidos que
Guinea Ecuatorial
que la sitúan en los
últimos puestos del
Índice de Naciones
Unidas de Desarrollo
Humano, debajo de
Kazajstán, Siria y
Argelia.
Grupos contrarios al
régimen, y expertos,
estiman que el botín
que saca anualmente
la familia Obiang es
de entre 300 y 800
millones de dólares |
|
|
|
Superfluo: ¿Realmente
la ostentosa caseta de seguridad de la
Urbanización Serra Retreat mantiene alejados
a los peores elementos?
En contraste con el grado de miseria que
sufre la gente de Guinea Ecuatorial, el
Pequeño Teodoro es un gran derrochador de
dinero. Viajes alrededor del mundo, de
Londres a París, de Ciudad del Cabo a Los
Ángeles, y enviando por avión su Bentley de
Londres a Los Ángeles, según indica la
prensa extranjera. Cuando está en Europa,
los tabloides cuentan chismorreos sobre sus
salidas y fiestas con bellezas rusas. Según
la revista Harper, un fin de semana de
Navidad, gastó casi 700,000 dólares para
alquilar el yate, de 300 pies, del
millonario Paul Allen, Tatoosh, para
entretener a la cantante de rap, Eve, para
después enviarla a tierra, tras una disputa.
En sesiones ante el Senado estadounidenses
en 2004, se criticó a Exxon Mobil por no
facilitar información sobre sus inversiones
en Guinea Ecuatorial. Pero su vicepresidente
ejecutivo, Andrew P. Swiger, sí reconoció
que participan en una empresa de energía,
Abayak, junto a la “primera dama de Guinea
Ecuatorial”. Según su testimonio, Exxon
Mobil paga a la primera dama, Constancia
Mangue de Obiang el 15 por ciento de los
ingresos de Abayak.
Las sesiones se llevaron a cabo tras una
fase de investigaciones que el Congreso
realizó al Banco Riggs, donde el antiguo
dictador chileno Augusto Pinochet transfirió
dinero, así como la familia Obiang. Los
registros bancarios muestran que 718
millones de dólares fueron depositados en 30
cuentas diferentes de miembros del gobierno
así como de la propia familia. El Banco
Riggs fue multado con 16 millones de dólares,
y quebró tras el escándalo, sin embargo los
fondos depositados por la familia Obiang, no
se vieron afectados y se transfirieron a
cuentas de otros países.
Chris Schoeman, el abogado surafricano, ha
solicitado a las compañías de petróleo
americanas que hagan públicos sus acuerdos
con los Obiangs, pero, aunque no sea una
sorpresa, ninguna lo ha hecho. Exxon Mobil
nos contestó enviando por e-mail un extracto
de la declaración realizadas Swiger en las
sesiones del Senado de 2004.
Ahora, Schoeman ha solicitado reunirse con
los senadores americanos Joseph Biden y Carl
Levin una vez que, en febrero, haya
completado su caso contra el Pequeño Teodoro
en Suráfrica.
Puede encontrar algún apoyo político,
particularmente por parte de Levin que en
las sesiones del 2004 manifestó al dirigente
de Exxon Mobile, Swiger: "Tengo que decirle,
no veo ninguna diferencia fundamental entre
tratar con Obiang y hacerlo con Saddam
Hussein". Schoeman quiere que el gobierno de
EE.UU. confisque la propiedad que el Pequeño
Teodoro adquirió en Malibu usando dinero
procedente de corrupciones y por tanto en
violación de las leyesl anticorrupción del
gobierno de Bush.
Sin embargo, conseguir alguna acción por
parte del gobierno norteamericano es un
desafío aún mayor que mover a los adinerados
residentes, muchas veces políticamente
activos que viven tras esas dos casetas de
seguridad, compartiendo esa exclusiva
propiedad con un dictador en prácticas.
"Nuestro apoyo al desarrollo de los derechos
humanos y de la democracia, junto con el
mantenimiento de los principios americanos,
está contribuyendo a que se establezcan los
cimientos de una paz duradera en el mundo",
dijo la Ministra de Relaciones Exteriores
norteamericana, Condoleezza Rice en un
discurso sobre derechos humanos pronunciado
en 2006.
Poco después, sin embargo, dio la bienvenida
a su "buen amigo" el Presidente Teodoro
Obiang que estaba en Washington en visita
oficial".
[http://www.laweekly.com/NEWS/NEWS/malibu-bad-neighbor/15436/]
Editado y distribuido por ASODEGUE |
|
|
|
|
| |
A dictator in
training buys his way in, as politically active
superstars stay mum |
|
|
|
| |
Malibu Bad Neighbor
http://www.laweekly.com/NEWS/NEWS/malibu-bad-neighbor/15436/
By DIANA
LJUNGAEUS
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
- 6:00 pm
The prestigious gated
community of Serra
Retreat in Malibu has two
manned guardhouses to keep
unwelcome visitors out, yet
its homeowners’ association
has no control over who buys
in.
Perhaps that is why there
was no outcry among the
politically sensitive
denizens when Teodoro Nguema
Obiang Mangue, the
quasi-prince of Equatorial
Guinea, quietly purchased a
16-acre estate at 3620
Sweetwater Mesa Road in
April 2006 for $35 million
in cash — last year’s
California state record.
The exotic-car-loving
playboy newcomer to the
exclusive cliff above Malibu
Pier, heir to one of the
most ruthless dictators in
the world, now sits behind
two guard shacks with the
likes of Dick van Dyke,
James Cameron, Larry Hagman,
Mel Gibson and other biggies.
Yet Malibu — an
image-conscious city that
just weeks ago officially
changed the name of De Butts
Terrace to Murphy Way to
accommodate the finer
sensibilities of its
residents — has been
surprisingly silent about
its infamous new resident.
His father, Equatorial
Guinea’s President Teodoro
Obiang, is dying of prostate
cancer, and the president’s
express wish, according to
human-rights groups, is for
the younger Teodoro to take
over as president and
dictator. Unless the
president is deposed while
on one of his many
cancer-treatment trips to
the West, Big Teodoro’s word
will remain the only law in
the tiny but cash-rich
nation he controls with an
iron hand. And his son,
called Teodorin, or Little
Teodoro, is believed next in
line for the job.
Perhaps his politically
active Malibu neighbors
don’t know that
Equatorial Guinea, on
the west coast of Africa,
with only 540,000
inhabitants, has neither a
free press nor free speech.
Its people are among the
world’s poorest, surviving
on less than $1 a day, yet
because of plentiful oil and
natural gas, the country is
the second richest in gross
domestic product per capita,
just behind wealthy
Luxembourg.
But unlike in Luxembourg, no
money gets to the people.
The Obiang family —
including Little Teodoro —
and its closest friends, are
among the world’s super-rich,
recipients of enormous
investments and various
forms of tribute paid by
American oil companies.
According to anticorruption
organization Global Witness,
Transparency International,
Amnesty International and
testimony from U.S.
congressional
investigations, the family
has funneled hundreds of
millions of dollars into its
own pockets. These
organizations say Exxon
Mobil leads the pack, paying
between 20 percent and 35
percent of its revenue from
oil and natural gas to the
Equatorial Guinea government
— a corrupt and bureaucratic
tangle in which Obiang
family members hold more
than half the ministerial
posts and control income
from major economic sectors.
According to congressional
testimony, Little Teodoro of
Malibu controls the forestry
industry.
Yet the 36-year-old eldest
son of the dictator, who
holds the job of minister of
forestry, or “Minister for
Chopping Down Trees” — as
dubbed by the New York
Daily News — officially
earns just $5,000 monthly.
Last year, when he bought
the $35 million Malibu
estate, the transaction was
named by Forbes as
the sixth most expensive
sale of a home in America,
setting off global criticism
among human-rights groups
about how, exactly, Teodorin
came up with the dough.
The “Minister for Chopping
Down Trees” actually openly
admits to controlling
significant riches from his
country’s natural resources,
offering this spin in a
sworn statement to a South
African court last year, and
obtained by the L.A.
Weekly: “Cabinet
ministers and public
servants of Equatorial
Guinea are by law allowed to
own companies that, in
consortium with a foreign
company, can bid for
government contracts . . .
It means that a cabinet
minister ends up with a
sizable part of the contract
price in his bank account.”
(Click
here to download the South
African court document.)
In addition to controlling
the forestry industry,
Teodorin Obiang Mangue owns
the nation’s only TV
station, as well as Radio
Asonga, the nation’s main
radio station. Three years
ago, according to the U.K.’s
Guardian and other
reports, Radio Asonga
declared that his father,
President Obiang, is a god
“in permanent contact with
the almighty” and has the
authority to “kill anyone
without being called to
account.”
International media,
including The Guardian
and Germany’s Der Spiegel,
have covered Little Teodoro
fairly extensively, but
California media give him a
free pass.
A rare mention of his
arrival in Malibu appeared
in a disapproving editorial
in the
Los Angeles Times
late last year — strangely
without any news report in
the rest of the paper. Of
the Malibu newspapers, the
Graphic at Pepperdine
University and
Malibu Surfside News
have mentioned that the
record-high home sale
involves an exceedingly
controversial buyer with a
globally newsworthy dark
side.
Robert E. Williams,
associate professor of
political science at
Pepperdine, says he alerted
a Malibu paper, never heard
back from them, and was
disappointed with what some
of the local papers
ultimately published. “My
guess is that the small
local papers don’t want to
explore this story, as a big
part of their revenue comes
from real estate advertising,”
Williams says.
Williams criticizes
well-known real estate agent
Jeff Hyland, who handled
the sale, saying, “I don’t
think it is too much to ask
realtors not to deal with
dictators,” and adding, “We
need a greater public
awareness to put pressure on
Washington” so that the
federal “antikleptocracy”
initiative pushed by the
Bush administration and
Congress finally does as
promised: prevent dictators
from using funds drained
from poor countries.
Hyland, of Hilton and Hyland,
who is past president of the
Beverly Hills Board of
Realtors and former director
of the California
Association of Realtors, and
whose Web site declares that
he’s got “ability and
sensitivity in selling
high-end real estate,” did
not return inquiries made by
the Weekly. Yet
records show he earned 4
percent on the deal, which
would translate into a
staggering $1.4 million.
Teodorin Obiang Mangue’s
lawyer, George I. Nagler,
and the Beverly Hills Board
of Realtors also did not
return phone calls.
|
|
| |
What came to Little Teodoro
so easily in Malibu was
denied him in New York. A
few years ago, when he
sought to buy a stunning
apartment on Fifth Avenue,
he was kept out by the
homeowners’ association,
which found him unsuitable.
Critics in other countries
have focused intensive
investigative efforts on
Little Teodoro’s real estate
purchases. When he bought
two luxurious homes in Cape
Town, South Africa, two
years ago, he didn’t use his
own name on the deeds — but
a prominent South African
attorney, Chris Schoeman,
was soon after him anyway.
Schoeman, who is pursuing
“foreign sovereign debts” in
a civil case aimed at
liquidating Little Teodoro’s
two homes on behalf of a
client allegedly cheated by
him, believes Teodorin
Obiang Mangue bought the
15,000-square-foot
Sweetwater Mesa Road
mansion, private four-hole
golf course, pools and
ocean-view lands with money
stolen from the treasury of
Equatorial Guinea.
“The purchase of the Malibu
property supports our
contention that the ruling
kleptocracy in Equatorial
Guinea is happy to continue
plundering the national
coffers,” Schoeman told the
Weekly. Obiang
Mangue’s assets in South
Africa were frozen pending a
decision by South Africa’s
high court in February.
Teodorin Obiang Mangue told
the court in South Africa he
kept his name off his real
estate documents because: “I
did not wish my name to be
associated with the
properties in any way is
[sic] concerned . . .
because I did not want the
newsmakers, journalists and
photographers to know where
I lived in Cape Town . . .
for the simple reason I did
not wish to be pestered by
photographers, etc.,
invading my privacy whenever
I was in Cape Town.”
His desire for privacy —
photos of him, for example,
are exceedingly rare — has
clearly worked better in
Malibu.
According to one resident
near Serra Road, nobody got
the word about Teodorin.
“This is the first I’ve
heard about it,” says a
woman who was afraid to give
her name, saying, “Those
African dictators play by a
different standard.” Nor did
the Malibu sheriff’s station
know Obiang Mangue was in
the area. “We do not hear
anything unless there is
trouble,” says Deputy Shawn
Brownell, with community
relations.
Malibu City Attorney Christi
Hogin says she was
“certainly unaware of this
particular transaction,” but
says that regardless of U.S.
antikleptocracy laws,
“cities do not have the
authority to preclude
individuals from buying
property and moving into a
city. The purchase of
residential property is a
private transaction.” (Click
here to download a pdf of
the property records.)
According to incorporation
filings, Little Teodoro
Obiang Mangue used the newly
formed Sweetwater Mesa LLC
to buy the estate, and is
also the owner behind
Sweetwater Malibu LLC and
Sweetwater Management Inc.
He started TNO Records and
TNO Entertainment — TNO as
in Teodoro Nguema Obiang,
producing two techno records
in 2003, but nothing since.
Although he didn’t feature
her on his two albums, he
dated Grammy-winning rapper
and Barbershop
actress Eve for years, but
she broke with him amid
rumors published in New York
and foreign media that his
father was a cannibal —
ghoulish tales told by
refugees fleeing the nation.
“There is no proof of
cannibalism, but there are
plenty of rumors,” Dr. Sarah
Wykes of Global Witness in
London told the Weekly.
Wykes has followed the
Obiangs for years, and says,
“I think Obiang is happy to
entertain these rumors in
order to keep people in fear.”
(The claim is that the
president ate the heart and
brain of his uncle, the
infamously bloodthirsty
Francisco Nguema, after
overthrowing him as
president in 1979.)
In recent years, President
Obiang has been the focus of
investigations by the CIA,
the United Nations, Amnesty
International, Global
Witness, Transparency
International and others,
which Wykes says have
unearthed ample evidence of
murder, torture,
imprisonment of political
opponents and other
human-rights abuses.
Amnesty International found
that political opponents are
routinely imprisoned and
ordinary people thrown out
of their homes without
warning, to make room for
“urban development” by the
Obiangs. Transparency
International rates
Equatorial Guinea 152nd out
of 159 countries on its
human-rights index, listing
it one of the worst for
family-controlled government
corruption. Sex trafficking
and child labor reported by
the CIA in 2006 are so
extensive that Equatorial
Guinea ranks at the bottom
of the U.N.’s Human
Development Index, below
Kazakhstan, Syria and
Algeria.
Watchdog groups and experts
estimate the loot siphoned
off by the Obiang family
ranges from $300 million to
$800 million — per year.
Against the backdrop
of the misery of the people
of Equatorial Guinea, Little
Teodoro is a big spender. He
globetrots from London to
Paris, Cape Town to Los
Angeles, and air-shipped his
Bentley from London to Los
Angeles, according to
foreign newspapers. When
he’s in Europe, tabloids
gossip about his partying
with Russian beauties.
According to Harper’s
Magazine, one Christmas
weekend he spent nearly
$700,000 to rent billionaire
Paul Allen’s 300-foot yacht,
Tatoosh, to entertain
rapper Eve — only to have
her airlifted to shore after
an argument.
In
U.S.
Senate hearings in 2004,
(see excerpts after article)
Exxon Mobil was criticized
for failing to be
forthcoming about its
investments in Equatorial
Guinea. But executive vice
president Andrew P. Swiger
did admit that his firm co-owns
an energy company, Abayak,
in partnership with “the
first lady of Equatorial
Guinea.” According to
Swiger’s testimony, Exxon
Mobil pays first lady
Constancia Mangue de Obiang
15 percent of all revenue
from Abayak.
The hearings were conducted
after congressional
investigations into Riggs
Bank, where former Chilean
dictator Augusto Pinochet
funneled money, as did the
Obiangs. Bank records show
that $718 million was
deposited in 30 different
Obiang family and government
accounts there. Riggs Bank
was fined $16 million, and
collapsed after the scandal,
but the Obiang funds were
released and transferred to
offshore accounts
|
|
|
|
| |
Malibu Bad
Neighbor |
|
|
|
| |
http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/malibu-bad-neighbor/15436/?page=3
By DIANA LJUNGAEUS
Wednesday, January 17, 2007 - 6:00
pmChris Schoeman, the South African
lawyer, has asked American oil companies
to make public their arrangements with
the Obiangs, but, not surprisingly, has
received no responses. Exxon Mobil
answered the Weekly by e-mailing
an opening statement by Swiger from the
hearings in 2004.
Now, Schoeman has asked to meet with
U.S. senators Joseph Biden and Carl
Levin after he has completed his case
against Little Teodoro in South Africa
in February.
He may find some political traction,
particularly with Levin, who in the 2004
hearings declared to Exxon Mobil’s
Swiger: “I have to tell you, I do not
see any fundamental difference between
dealing with an Obiang and dealing with
a Saddam Hussein.” Schoeman wants the
U.S. to confiscate Teodorin’s Malibu
estate on grounds that he bought it
using tainted money in violation of the
Bush administration’s anticorruption
laws.
But getting action from the U.S.
government might be a greater challenge
even than waking up the wealthy and
often politically hypersensitive
residents who live behind two guard
shacks, sharing their exclusive domain
with a dictator in training.
“Our promotion of human rights and
democracy is in keeping with America’s
most cherished principles and it helps
to lay the foundation for lasting peace
in the world,” said U.S. Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice in a speech on
human rights in
2006.
Shortly after that, she welcomed her
“good friend” President Teodoro Obiang
to Washington on an official state visit.
Excerpt of 2004 U.S. Senate Hearing
Click here to download the Minority
Staff Report on Money Laundering and
Foreign Corruption
Senator Levin. Thank you, Mr. Guidry.
First let me particularly thank Amerada
Hess and Marathon for the full
cooperation that you have extended to
the Subcommittee during our
investigation. We have asked for a lot
of information on some matters which may
not have been too pleasant, but
you have responded fully and in a timely
fashion.
We appreciate it.
ExxonMobil, I am afraid, has not been as
forthcoming, to be perfectly
straight with you, Mr. Swiger. And we
will expect you to provide
information that has been requested,
just as your two colleagues there,
two other companies, have on this panel.
And I do not know if you are familiar
with what you have given us or not
given us, but we will expect the same
information and cooperation to the
same extent from ExxonMobil as we have
received from the other two companies
that are represented here today. And I
want to give you an opportunity to
respond, if you want.
Mr. Swiger. ExxonMobil takes the work of
this Subcommittee extremely
seriously. We have been involved in
several conversations with the
staff. We have responded on a number of
occasions with detailed and thorough
written submissions, as detailed
and as thorough as they possibly can be.
We are
putting that same level of effort in the
most recent request for data from the
Subcommittee, which arrived on the eve
of the 4th of July holiday. We expect to
have that in to the Subcommittee
very shortly.
Senator Levin. Thank you.
When our staff was reviewing the Riggs
Bank documents, it came across a number
of large payments which were made by a
number of oil companies to Equatorial
Guinea officials, family members, and
entities controlled by them. There is
also evidence of joint business ventures
between some companies and
individuals in Equatorial Guinea. If you
take a look at Exhibit
1g,\1\ there is a chart listing a sample
of these payments and
business ventures.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ See Exhibit 1g which appears in the
Appendix on page 221.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Swiger, let me perhaps start with
you, about the Mobil
Oil Guinea Ecuatorial, a marketing
subsidiary of Exxon that
conducts retail and wholesale
distribution of petroleum
products in Equatorial Guinea. You have,
I think, told us that
ExxonMobil owns about 85 percent of that
company and that a 15
percent shareholder in that company is
``Abayak''--am I
pronouncing that correctly?
Mr. Swiger. ``AH-beyock.''
Senator Levin. Abayak, which we
understand is owned and
controlled by the President of
Equatorial Guinea. Is that your
understanding as to who the ownership
and controlling interest
in Abayak is?
Mr. Swiger. It is the First Lady.
Senator Levin. How much did Abayak
initially pay for its 15
percent share?
Mr. Swiger. The initial capitalization
of Mobil Oil Guinea Ecuatorial was
approximately $15,000, $13,000 of which
was contributed by ExxonMobil for its 85
percent share, and about $2,300 by
Abayak.
It is a small marketing company. It
supplies to industry, has a couple
of retail outlets in the country.
Senator Levin. All right. Did Abayak
approach Exxon about this venture, or
did Exxon initiate it?
Mr. Swiger. I'm not familiar with how it
was initiated.
Senator Levin. Are there any other
technical assets that Abayak brought to
that venture?
Mr. Swiger. I'm not aware of any.
Senator Levin. Now, in Exxon's guidebook
on the Foreign Corrupt Practices
Act, it lists a number of red flags in a
transaction that suggest a need for
greater scrutiny and for implementation
of specific safeguards. Two of the
listed red flags are the following: That
the third party has a close
personal or family relationship or a
business relationship with a
foreign official or a relative of a
foreign official; and that the
only qualification of the third
party--that the third |
http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/malibu-bad-neighbor/15436/?page=4
party brings to the venture is influence
over foreign officials.
Do they not exist here, those red flags,
in that relationship?
Mr. Swiger. These red flags do exist in
that relationship,
but they--the business venture is a
commercial venture. It is
fully transparent and is recorded
accurately in our books.
Senator Levin. Mr. Guidry, your company
has formed a
business venture in E.G. with a company
called GEOGAM. Is that
the way to pronounce it, ``geo-gam''?
Mr. Guidry. That is the correct
pronunciation.
Senator Levin. GEOGAM owns a 20 percent
interest in a
liquid petroleum gas facility which is
owned 52 percent by
Marathon. GEOGAM received, I think,
$87,000 in dividends from
this venture in 2002. GEOGAM has a 10
percent interest in a
methanol plant, in which Marathon has a
45 percent interest,
and they have received about $3 million
from that operation. It
is our understanding that, although
GEOGAM is billed as a
state-owned company, that the state
actually owns 25 percent of
it and that the President of Equatorial
Guinea's company,
Abayak, owns the other 75 percent of
GEOGAM. So does Marathon
know that GEOGAM is partially owned by
Abayak?
Mr. Guidry. Let me begin, Senator Levin,
if I can, to
clarify for the record. Marathon did not
form any joint venture
with GEOGAM. The relationship between
GEOGAM and the facilities
that exist in Equatorial Guinea was
originally entered into by
CMS, our predecessor. At the time that
we purchased CMS
Energy's assets in Equatorial Guinea, it
was clear to us that
GEOGAM was a 100 percent--an entity
owned 100 percent by the
government. It wasn't until the Summer
of 2002 that it became,
that there was some suggestion that
perhaps GEOGAM was owned by
a private interest.
Senator Levin. That private interest
being the president?
Mr. Guidry. According to what is now an
ex-employee of
GEOGAM, yes. In conversation they
mentioned that it was their
understanding that GEOGAM was owned 75
percent by Abayak and 25
percent by the state.
Senator Levin. Now, is that troubling to
you, that you are
in partnership with that president?
Mr. Guidry. What that did for us is it
triggered a red flag
for us. And in accordance with our
anti-corruption guidelines,
we immediately then brought that to the
attention of our
attorneys and had that reviewed in
detail and were able to
establish that what we would do point
forward is to treat
GEOGAM as though it was in fact owned in
part or in whole by a
government official. And so we've
conducted our operations and
our dealings with GEOGAM under that
assumption.
Senator Levin. And how does that change
the way in which you operate?Mr. Guidry.
We just work to ensure that any business
dealings that we have with GEOGAM are
arm's length, that in no
way do we show any favor to GEOGAM than
we would in any other
circumstance.
Senator Levin. Are you concerned about
being a business
partner, in effect, with this dictator?
[Pause.]
Mr. Guidry. We recognize that--and we've
read the State
Department reports and we recognize
that--the reputation that
exists. And we feel that our presence in
the country, we think,
does--goes a great distance toward
improving conditions in
Equatorial Guinea. And we feel that,
through our presence, we
have--to the extent that we have
influence, we think we can
have a positive effect on the conditions
that exist in
Equatorial Guinea.
Senator Levin. So that you have made a
corporate decision
that being a partner with somebody like
this particular
president, with all of the issues which
you have heard about,
including the use of oil revenues that
are supposed to be the
state's for his own personal accounts,
is something that you
can--you are comfortable with?
Mr. Guidry. I think in this circumstance
what we're
comfortable with is the fact that we
operate within all
applicable laws and that, where we can
influence circumstances
in Equatorial Guinea, we're going to
work to improve civil
society in Equatorial Guinea through our
presence there.
Senator Levin. Is that the only way you
can be in the
country, is being a partner with him?
Mr. Guidry. I don't think----
Senator Levin. Is that a condition of
your being present in
the country?
Mr. Guidry. Of Marathon's presence?
Senator Levin. Yes.
Mr. Guidry. No, it was not a condition
of us entering into
Equatorial Guinea.
Senator Levin. Is it a condition of your
entering into
Equatorial Guinea, Mr. Swiger?
Mr. Swiger. It is not, Senator.
Senator Levin. Does it trouble you that
you have a business
partner like this dictator?
Mr. Swiger. Business arrangements we
have entered into have
been entirely commercial, have been at
market-based rates,
arm's length transactions, fully
recorded on our books. They
are a function of completing the work
that we're there to do,
which is to develop the country's
petroleum resources and,
through that and our work in the
community, make Equatorial
Guinea a better place.
Senator Levin. Make it what?
Mr. Swiger. A better place.
Senator Levin. Do you know the total
number of dividends,
by the way, which Abayak has been paid
by that company that you
are a partner?
Mr. Swiger. The dividend total for the
shareholders over
the past 6 years is slightly over
$200,000. Abayak's share is
$32,000, I believe.
Senator Levin. That is for a $2,300
investment? |
|
|
| |
Teodorin Dumped |
|
| |
By
NME 16/8/06
Aug 17, 2006, 10:15
http://www.ocnus.net/cgi-bin/exec/view.cgi?archive=100&num=25619
Rapper Eve is distancing herself
from her on-again, off-again
boyfriend, the son of an African
dictator, even as he came closer
to power last week.
The entire 50-man government
of Equatorial Guinea walked
out Thursday after pressure
from Teodorin Nguema
Obiang's father, Teodoro
Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who's
been "president" since 1979.
Called one of the most
ruthless dictators in the
world, President Obiang
reportedly siphons off $700
million a year from the
oil-rich country's profits.
Teodorin, the Minister of
Forestry, or the "Minister
of Chopping Down Trees," as
some call him, pursued Eve
relentlessly until she
finally "gave up" and
started going out with him,
sources told us. The
international playboy spent
$700,000 at Christmas to
rent Paul Allen's yacht to
fete her on St. Bart's,
tooled around in one of his
two Bentleys, and invested
$25 million in a rap label,
Detroit's TNO Entertainment.
But the rapper-actress, who
gets involved in good causes
like promoting HIV testing,
probably couldn't help but
feel a twinge of conscience
being with a spendthrift
whose people live on $1 a
day. What's more, her
friends were jamming her to
end it.
One of them tells us she has
now broken up with him, even
as Teodorin comes close to
becoming president himself.
His father has prostate
cancer and serious heart
problems.
Perhaps it was the potential
father-in-law who was the
turnoff. President Obiang
killed his own uncle, was
thought to be involved in
his brother's "suicide
attempts" after he
questioned Teodorin's role
in the government, and has
been accused of cannibalism
by opponents.
The leader of the government
in exile, Severo Moto Nsa,
said on Spanish radio: "He
has just devoured a police
commissioner. I say devoured,
as this commissioner was
buried without his testicles
and brain."
"They will never date again,"
said a source close to Eve.
But she's moving on: Eve's
been working on her next CD,
due out in November, with
Pharrell and Dr. Dre.
Source:Ocnus.net 2007 |
|
|
|
| |
The tiny
African state, the president's playboy son and the
$35m Malibu mansion |
|
| |
Vast property has tennis courts and golf course
· Population in poverty despite $3bn oil
revenue
Chris McGreal in Johannesburg and Dan Glaister in
Malibu
Friday November 10, 2006
The Guardian
For a man paid less than £3,000 a month, the 16
acres of mansion, designer golf course and
sprawling gardens speckled with fountains in
Malibu was quite a buy. The views of the ocean
alone - never mind the 15,000 sq ft mansion with
eight bathrooms, a pool and tennis courts -
probably accounted for a good chunk of the $35m
(£18m) asking price.
But then Teodoro Nguema Obiang's modest
salary as a minister in his father's government
in Equatorial Guinea is largely symbolic, just
like the elections in which his father is
returned to power with 97% of the vote and the
distribution of oil revenues in a country with
one of the highest per capita incomes on Earth
but some of the poorest people.
Little Teodoro, as
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema's son is known
at home, appears to spend as little time as
possible fulfilling his duties as the minister
of agriculture and forestry in the west African
state. Instead he flits between South Africa,
France and the US, pursuing business ventures
such as a failed rap label while acquiring
property and a fleet of Ferraris, Lamborghinis
and Bentleys - all made possible by the
discovery of oil in Equatorial Guinea's waters a
decade ago.
At the time,
there was a promise that the country would
become the "Kuwait of Africa", but it has
increasingly come to look like Nigeria as a few
kleptocrats get rich while the masses eke out a
living.
Mr Obiang
probably thought his acquisition of the Malibu
house through a front company of which he is the
owner would slip by largely unnoticed,
particularly after there was so little comment
about earlier purchases of two houses in Cape
Town and a $2m penthouse flat in California. But
the British anti-corruption group Global Witness
spotted the sale and is publicising it as
evidence that the Obiang family has followed in
a long tradition of African rulers who plunder
their country's wealth while their people live
in poverty.
Seen from the
Pacific Coast Highway, Mr Obiang's house doesn't
look like much, at least not in the context of
the exclusive millionaires' mansions looking out
from the cliffs over the Pacific Ocean. "Oh,
that's a lovely house," explained Malibu Carl
yesterday, watching the surfers next to Malibu
pier. "That's a hell of a piece of property
right there. It's huge."
The house is
hidden from prying eyes by a sheer bluff and
guardhouse. But while $35m may buy a lot of
house, it cannot guarantee you privacy. A stroll
along Malibu pier reveals arched windows, plain,
cream plaster walls and a tiled roof. Royal palm
trees line the drive, and the bright red of
bougainvillea stands out against the sandy
hillside.
Described as a
"playboy", Mr Obiang may be quite interested in
meeting his neighbours. Whether they would
return the interest seems unlikely. Mel Gibson
lives on Serra Road, as does Britney Spears.
Olivia Newton John is up there too, and so are
Larry Hagman and Titanic director James Cameron.
Across the road is the equally exclusive Malibu
Colony, the gated community that housed most of
Hollywood during the 1970s and 1980s.
"That's one of
the premier estates in Malibu," says a local
estate agent. He notes that Cher's house in
Malibu recently went on the market at $29m.
The property
belonged to a Canadian developer named Bill
Connor. Rumour has it that he sold two years ago
for $28m to a Disney executive (some say it was
someone from Fox) before its current owner paid
$35m at the beginning of this year. "Most of
these sales happen very quietly," says the
estate agent. "The properties don't usually hit
the market."
President Obiang,
who has ruled since seizing power in 1979, has
decreed that the management of his country's
$3bn a year in oil revenues is a state secret.
That is why it is difficult to say for sure
exactly how he comes to have about $700m in US
bank accounts. But the president's son gave an
insight into his salary in an affidavit filed
with the Cape high court in South Africa in
August, as part of a lawsuit against him over a
commercial debt.
"Cabinet
ministers and public servants in Equatorial
Guinea are by law allowed to own companies that,
in consortium with a foreign company, can bid
for government contracts ... A cabinet minister
ends up with a sizeable part of the contract
price in his bank account," he testified.
Global Witness
wants the US government to invoke a proclamation
by President Bush nearly three years ago that
bars corrupt foreign officials from entering the
US and allows their assets to be seized.
But Washington is
unlikely to move against Mr Obiang when it was
so welcoming of his father only last April. The
US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, called
President Obiang a "good friend" even though her
own department's annual human rights report said
officials in Equatorial Guinea use torture.
Among those on
the receiving end have been a group of
mercenaries arrested two years ago for
attempting to overthrow the regime with the
backing of Mark Thatcher.
Before the oil,
relations were not always so friendly. In the
mid-1990s the US ambassador to Malabo was
withdrawn after the state radio station said he
had been spotted conjuring up his ancestors'
spirits in a graveyard to put spells on
President Obiang. In fact, the ambassador was
the son of a Canadian airman and was tending the
graves of an RAF bomber crew killed during the
second world war.
But once the oil
started flowing, American drillers such as
ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco began pouring
billions of dollars into the country. The US
diplomats were soon back in a very different
frame of mind. Today, the $3bn annual oil
revenues gives Equatorial Guinea's 520,000
citizens the second highest income in the world
at about £26,000 per head.
But ordinary
people see little of it. Most of the population
live on less than a pound a day. Equatorial
Guinea comes bottom in the United Nations' Human
Development Index, which measures quality of
life.
Three years ago,
state 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". But President Obiang is mortal after
all: he is suffering from terminal prostate
cancer. He has made it known he favours Little
Teodoro as his successor.
Backstory
The tiny state of
Equatorial Guinea, five inhabited islands
and a mainland portion of jungle, is one of the
smallest in Africa, with 520,000 citizens.
In 1979, nine years after independence
from Spain, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema
seized power, and has been absolute ruler
ever since. In the past decade, Equatorial
Guinea has become Africa's third largest oil
producer. On paper, oil has made its
citizens the second wealthiest on the planet. In
practice, much of the £370m revenue is
grabbed by the president, while most people
live on less than a dollar a day. A coup plot
was staged in 2004, led by Simon Mann,
a friend of Sir Mark Thatcher; the former
prime minister's son escaped a claim for
millions of pounds in damages when the UK
appeal court blocked an attempt by the
dictator to sue him.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/equatorialguinea/story/0,,1944445,00.html
|
|
| |
África : petróleo, represión y
miseria en Guinea Ecuatorial |
|
| |
Juan Carlos Galindo
Umoya.
Análisis de la grave situación de Guinea Ecuatorial.
Durante el primer semestre de este año están
previstas elecciones legislativas.
Asistiremos, con toda seguridad, a la repetición de
la gran farsa.
Estados Unidos, Francia y España callan ante el
desastre. Mientras, Exxon, Elf y Repsol recogen los
beneficios. Este pequeño país con medio millón de
habitantes se ha convertido en una pieza codiciada
en el nuevo tablero internacional. La razón: la
pequeña isla en la que se encuentra Malabo, la
capital, y gran parte de sus aguas continentales se
sitúan encima de inmensos yacimientos de petróleo.
España, la ex metrópoli, no ha podido resistir tan
interesante tentación y los tiempos de distensión y
las críticas a la violación de los derechos humanos
han dado paso a una relación de amistad y
cooperación que se intensifica por momentos...
El pasado 29 de enero dos embarcaciones de la Marina
española partían del puerto de Rota en dirección a
Guinea Ecuatorial. El gobierno español, que no tardó
en suspender la misión ante las denuncias de la
prensa, aseguró que eran tan sólo maniobras
militares inscritas dentro de los acuerdos firmados
por España con su ex-colonia. Sin embargo, todo
indica que se trataba de una maniobra para
fortalecer la imagen del dictador Teodoro Obiang
Nguema, al frente del país desde 1979.
Obiang llegó al poder después de derrocar y fusilar
a su tío, Francisco Macías, presidente de Guinea
Ecuatorial desde su independencia en 1968. Macías
había convertido el país en un mísero campo de
concentración del que había huido más de un tercio
de la población. Por eso Obiang, por aquel entonces
un joven oficial de meteórica carrera y
vicepresidente de Defensa, se convirtió en "el
libertador" de su pueblo. Poco tardó en demostrar lo
contrario. Rodeado del clan de Mongomo (su localidad
natal) y protegido por su guardia marroquí, Obiang
afianzó un poder despótico y corrupto en el que la
ausencia de libertades y la violación de los
derechos humanos se repiten a diario.
Sin embargo, lejos de encontrarse frente al rechazo
y el aislamiento internacional, Obiang cuenta con el
apoyo de Francia, Estados Unidos y España. El
presidente de la República francesa, Jaques Chirac,
es amigo del presidente Obiang y Francia incluyó a
Guinea Ecuatorial en su área de influencia económica
en 1984, un año antes de firmar un acuerdo de
cooperación militar. Es más, militares y mercenarios
franceses entrenan a los "ninjas", una unidad de
elite a medio camino entre los tontons- macoutes de
Haití y los escuadrones de la muerte guatemaltecos.
Por su parte, Estados Unidos mantiene excelentes
relaciones con Malabo desde que la nueva política
energética estadounidense convirtió la región de
África Occidental en una prioridad estratégica. Por
último, España, la ex metrópoli, no ha podido
resistir tan interesante tentación y los tiempos de
distensión y las críticas a la violación de los
derechos humanos han dado paso a una relación de
amistad y cooperación que se intensif ica por
momentos.
Razones alejadas de cualquier consideración ética
explican este apoyo. Enclavado entre Gabón y Camerún,
este pequeño país con medio millón de habitantes se
ha convertido en una pieza codiciada en el nuevo
tablero internacional. La razón: la pequeña isla en
la que se encuentra Malabo, la capital, y gran parte
de sus aguas continentales se sitúan encima de
inmensos yacimientos de petróleo off-shore (cerca de
la costa, es decir, dentro de la soberanía nacional).
La producción actual se encuentra por encima de los
250.000 barriles de crudo al día y se espera llegar
en un futuro próximo al medio millón. Esto
convertirá al país en el mayor productor mundial de
petróleo por habitante, por encima de Kuwait. Las
prospecciones se han multiplicado por diez en los
últimos cinco años, pero la producción podría
aumentarse más aún si Guinea resuelve a su favor el
contencioso que mantiene con Gabón por la soberanía
de la isla de Mbagne.
A pesar del reducido margen de beneficio impuesto
por las multinacionales energéticas, la fiebre del
oro negro ha cambiado de manera radical la situación
en Guinea Ecuatorial. Al menos en su apariencia y
superficie: el Producto Interior Bruto (PIB) per
cápita ha pasado de 330 dólares por habitante en
1990 a más de 6.000 en 2002 y la tasa de crecimiento
de la economía guineoecuatoriana alcanzó el 30 por
ciento durante 2002. Sin embargo, según el Fondo
Monetario Internacional (FMI), el 95 por ciento de
la población sobrevive con menos de un dólar al día
y Naciones Unidas sitúa la esperanza de vida en 54
años. Paradojas: según la revista Forbes, el
presidente Obiang es uno de los hombres más ricos
del mundo.
Una clase política corrupta y monopolizada por
familiares y próximos a Obiang vampiriza los
recursos del país. Su hijo Gabriel Obiang es
ministro de Hidrocarburos. Mientras, su primogénito
Teodoro, conocido como Teodorín entre sus compañeros
de orgías en los hoteles más caros de París, es
ministro de Bosques. Cargo que no duda en
compatibilizar con la posesión y dirección de
empresas madereras, estaciones de radio, canales de
televisión, aerolíneas e incluso una discográfica
con sede en Estados Unidos. Además, Teodorín es
presidente de la única compañía petrolífera del país,
Total Guinea Ecuatorial, participada en un 80 por
ciento por la multinacional franco-belga Total Fina
Elf. El primogénito de Obiang ha tenido que utilizar
en diversas ocasiones su inmunidad diplomática para
escapar de acusaciones ante la justicia francesa por
tráfico de drogas y blanqueo de dinero. No es el
único. Diversos diplomáticos (como el embajador de
Guinea Ecuatorial en Ginebra) han sido expulsados de
los países en los que se encontraban, acusados de
narcotráfico. Es más, Víctor Guy, tesorero del
Cártel de Medellín, disfrutó a mediados de la década
de los noventa de pasaporte guineano. Por último, la
ayuda al desarrollo, antes española y ahora
fundamentalmente francesa, se pierde en una tupida
red de intereses y comisiones tejida a uno y otro
lado.
Mientras, la represión contra la oposición continúa.
De poco sirvió la Constitución aprobada en 1991 en
la que se establecía el multipartidismo. Cada
elección es una farsa a gran escala en la que el
presidente consigue el 99 por ciento de los votos.
En diciembre de 2002 las últimas Presidenciales se
celebraron con más de un centenar de miembros de la
Convergencia por la Democracia Social (CPDS, único
partido sólido de oposición) encarcelados. Entre
ellos, el líder opositor Plácido Micó, acusado de
participar en un complot para derrotar al presidente
en 1997. El juicio, celebrado en junio de 2002, fue
denunciado internacionalmente por la ausencia de las
mínimas garantías para los acusados. Además, la
libertad de prensa no existe y el Estado controla
todos los medios de comunicación. Por último, las
torturas y los ataques contra la etnia Bubi y la
violación de los derechos humanos se han convertido
en algo cotidiano.
La situación en la ex colonia española es grave. La
inestabilidad se acentúa por las especulaciones
sobre la débil salud del presidente y los
innumerables rumores sobre un posible golpe de
Estado. Durante el primer semestre de este año están
previstas elecciones legislativas. Asistiremos, con
toda seguridad, a la repetición de la gran farsa.
Estados Unidos, Francia y España callan ante el
desastre. Mientras, Exxon, Elf y Repsol recogen los
beneficios.
Fuentes: Periodista Amnistía Inernacional.
Publica: Deartamento de Comunicaciones de la C.I.
http://www.candidaturaindependiente-guineaecuatorial.com/acceso/index.php?ind=news&op=news_show_single&ide=179
por abamodjo, Miércoles, 07 Febrero 2007 19:08
|
|
| |
Deudas Guinea
Ecuatorial se tornan en las de hijo del presidente |
|
| |
Las propiedades inmobiliarias de
Teodorín Obiang Mangue, el Ministro de Agricultura y
Bosques de Guinea Ecuatorial e hijo predilecto del
presidente, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, han sido
temporalmente requisadas para pagar lo que le debe
su país a un constructor sudafricano.
En 2003, George Ehlers ganó un concurso público para
construir una pista de aterrizaje y unas carreteras
en la isla de Annabón, en Guinea Ecuatorial.
El contrato ascendía a unos 9 millones de dólares,
una cantidad insignificante para un país que vende,
cada día, unos 22 millones de dólares en petróleo.
Además de no pagar a Ehlers, el ministro guineano,
encargado del proyecto, le confiscó el pasaporte y
el de sus empleados, y les hizo trabajar durante
cuatro meses en la isla casi como prisioneros.
'Había un hospital pero no tenía medicinas. Los
guineanos se estaban muriendo de malaria pero el
gobierno ni se preocupaba.
Nosotros les dábamos nuestras medicinas', aseguró
Ehlers a una cadena de televisión sudafricana.
Gracias al departamento de Asuntos Exteriores
sudafricano lograron alquilar un avión ruso para
salir de la isla Guineana, aunque tuvieron que dejar
allí unos 150.000 euros de maquinaria que se habían
llevado.
Nada más llegar a Sudáfrica, Ehlers contactó con
Chris Shcoeman, un abogado especializado en litigios
en el continente y este tiró de la manta.
La ultima visita de Teodorín a Ciudad del Cabo, un
fin de semana de julio de 2005, fue tan sonada que
dejó estela en varios periódicos.
Según el diario 'Cape Times', Teodorín, que entonces
tenía 34 años, llegó a la ciudad para remodelar su
mansión en los suburbios y para hacer unas compras.
El hijo del presidente Obiang se compró en un par de
días un apartamento junto a la playa, dos
automóviles Bentley, un Lamborghini 'Murcielago',
además de ropa y champán para sus juergas nocturnas.
'Se gastó 15.000 rands (unos 2.000 euros) en tres
botellas de champán', especificó Herman Dippenaar,
uno de los guardaespaldas que le rodeaban.
El valor total de las propiedades de Teodorín en
Ciudad del Cabo podrían superar hoy los seis o siete
millones de euros.
Según la ONG 'Global Witness', Teodorín también
tiene dos mansiones en Los Angeles y una compañía
discográfica de Hip Hop con estudio de grabación
incluido.
'Nosotros creemos que las propiedades de Ciudad del
Cabo fueron compradas con el dinero del Estado, o
dicho de otra forma, con el dinero que él robó al
Estado', declaró Shoeman, el abogado de Ehlers, en
un programa de televisión local.
'Bajo nuestro punto de vista -añadió- esos activos
no son propiedad del hijo del presidente, si no del
Estado ecuatoguineano, y por lo tanto pueden ser
utilizados para pagar el dinero que le deben a mi
cliente.'
Teodorín ha mandado una declaración jurada al
Tribunal Supremo diciendo que compró todas sus
propiedades con dinero ganado lícitamente a través
de sus empresas en Guinea -una compañía maderera y
la única estación de radio privada del país.
En su declaración también expresó que en Guinea está
permitido que los ministros tengan sus propias
compañías y se asocien con empresas extranjeras,
hasta para participar en concursos públicos.
El Tribunal Supremo parece haber entendido la
postura de Shoeman, ya que ha incautado las
propiedades de Teodorín hasta que se celebre el
juicio.
'Ahora estamos negociando un acuerdo con los
ecuatoguineanos y parece que nos van a pagar lo que
nos deben sin tener que ir a juicio, pero con estos
países nunca se sabe, porque un día te dicen una
cosa y al otro otra', declaró Schoeman a Efe.
Shoeman está convencido de que ganaría el juicio si
este se llegara a celebrarse, 'porque las
actividades empresariales que él mismo (Teodorín)
describió en su declaración jurada están
consideradas como ilícitas y corruptas bajo la ley
internacional'.
Tanto Shoeman, como el Tribunal Supremo de esta
ciudad, parecen ser una de las pocas excepciones en
la reciente tendencia mundial de no plantar cara a
la corrupción de los países africanos que tienen
petróleo.
De estar en buenas manos, la explotación del
petróleo en estos países podría, en tan sólo unos
años, acelerar el desarrollo y sacar de la miseria a
muchos millones de africanos.
http://actualidad.terra.es/nacional/articulo/deudas_guinea_ecuatorial_1234502.htm
Terra Actualidad - EFE |
|
| |
Los problemas de
Teodorin en Suráfrica |
|
| |
La agencia
EFE distribuyó el pasado día 25 el despacho
siguiente: "Las propiedades inmobiliarias de
Teodorín Obiang Mangue, el Ministro de Agricultura y
Bosques de Guinea Ecuatorial e hijo predilecto del
presidente, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, han sido
temporalmente requisadas para pagar lo que le debe
su país a un constructor sudafricano.
En 2003, George Ehlers ganó un concurso público para
construir una pista de aterrizaje y unas carreteras
en la isla de Annabón, en Guinea Ecuatorial.
El contrato ascendía a unos 9 millones de dólares,
una cantidad insignificante para un país que vende,
cada día, unos 22 millones de dólares en petróleo.
Además de no pagar a Ehlers, el ministro guineano,
encargado del proyecto, le confiscó el pasaporte y
el de sus empleados, y les hizo trabajar durante
cuatro meses en la isla casi como prisioneros.
'Había un hospital pero no tenía medicinas. Los
guineanos se estaban muriendo de malaria pero el
gobierno ni se preocupaba. Nosotros les dábamos
nuestras medicinas', aseguró Ehlers a una cadena de
televisión sudafricana.
Gracias al departamento de Asuntos Exteriores
sudafricano lograron alquilar un avión ruso para
salir de la isla Guineana, aunque tuvieron que dejar
allí unos 150.000 euros de maquinaria que se habían
llevado.
Nada más llegar a Sudáfrica, Ehlers contactó con
Chris Shcoeman, un abogado especializado en litigios
en el continente y este tiró de la manta.
La ultima visita de Teodorín a Ciudad del Cabo, un
fin de semana de julio de 2005, fue tan sonada que
dejó estela en varios periódicos.
Según el diario 'Cape Times', Teodorín, que entonces
tenía 34 años, llegó a la ciudad para remodelar su
mansión en los suburbios y para hacer unas compras.
El hijo del presidente Obiang se compró en un par de
días un apartamento junto a la playa, dos
automóviles Bentley, un Lamborghini 'Murcielago',
además de ropa y champán para sus juergas nocturnas.
'Se gastó 15.000 rands (unos 2.000 euros) en tres
botellas de champán', especificó Herman Dippenaar,
uno de los guardaespaldas que le rodeaban.
El valor total de las propiedades de Teodorín en
Ciudad del Cabo podrían superar hoy los seis o siete
millones de euros.
Según la ONG 'Global Witness', Teodorín también
tiene dos mansiones en Los Angeles y una compañía
discográfica de Hip Hop con estudio de grabación
incluido.
'Nosotros creemos que las propiedades de Ciudad del
Cabo fueron compradas con el dinero del Estado, o
dicho de otra forma, con el dinero que él robó al
Estado', declaró Shoeman, el abogado de Ehlers, en
un programa de televisión local.
'Bajo nuestro punto de vista -añadió- esos activos
no son propiedad del hijo del presidente, si no del
Estado ecuatoguineano, y por lo tanto pueden ser
utilizados para pagar el dinero que le deben a mi
cliente.'
Teodorín ha mandado una declaración jurada al
Tribunal Supremo diciendo que compró todas sus
propiedades con dinero ganado lícitamente a través
de sus empresas en Guinea -una compañía maderera y
la única estación de radio privada del país.
En su declaración también expresó que en Guinea está
permitido que los ministros tengan sus propias
compañías y se asocien con empresas extranjeras,
hasta para participar en concursos públicos.
El Tribunal Supremo parece haber entendido la
postura de Shoeman, ya que ha incautado las
propiedades de Teodorín hasta que se celebre el
juicio.
'Ahora estamos negociando un acuerdo con los
ecuatoguineanos y parece que nos van a pagar lo que
nos deben sin tener que ir a juicio, pero con estos
países nunca se sabe, porque un día te dicen una
cosa y al otro otra', declaró Schoeman a Efe.
Shoeman está convencido de que ganaría el juicio si
este se llegara a celebrarse, 'porque las
actividades empresariales que él mismo (Teodorín)
describió en su declaración jurada están
consideradas como ilícitas y corruptas bajo la ley
internacional'.
Tanto Shoeman, como el Tribunal Supremo de esta
ciudad, parecen ser una de las pocas excepciones en
la reciente tendencia mundial de no plantar cara a
la corrupción de los países africanos que tienen
petróleo.
De estar en buenas manos, la explotación del
petróleo en estos países podría, en tan sólo unos
años, acelerar el desarrollo y sacar de la miseria a
muchos millones de africanos".
Editado y distribuido por ASODEGUE
http://www.asodegue.org/noviembre2706.htm
|
|
| |
African
Minister buys multi-million dollar California mansion |
|
| |
08/11/2006
Teodoro Nguema Obiang, playboy son of the President
of Equatorial Guinea, an oil-rich but dirt-poor
enclave in West Africa, has bought a new $35 million
dollar home in the USA, despite earning only
US$5,000 a month as the country’s Minister of
Agriculture and Forestry. |
|
| |
 |
|
Population in poverty |
|
On 27
February 2006 Sweetwater Malibu, LLC,
managed by Teodoro N. Obiang, purchased a 16
acre property, comprising a 15,000 square
foot house with ocean view, 4-hole golf
course, tennis court, and swimming pool,
according to property and company records
obtained by Global Witness.1 The property
was listed at US$35 million, though no sales
price was recorded. According to the titling |
 |
|
|
| |
company and the Los Angeles County Assessor,
the parties did not want the value made
public.Equatorial
Guinea is one of the poorest and most repressive
regimes in the world, despite earning around US$3
billion in oil revenues annually.2 On paper its
half-million population enjoys the second highest
per capita income in the world (US$50,200)3 yet the
country still ranks at the bottom of the UN Human
Development Index.4 Management of the country’s vast
oil wealth remains a ‘state secret’ according to
President Teodoro N. Obiang. |
|
| |
 |
|
Malabo business City . Malabo citée des
Affaires |
|
A U.S. Senate report
in 2004 revealed that US$700 million of
Equatorial Guinea’s oil revenues were
held in accounts at Riggs Bank in
Washington, DC, which eventually led to
Riggs’ demise.5 After the Riggs scandal,
the Equato-Guinean government promised
more transparent management of public
funds, including a pledge to implement
the Extractive Industries Transparency
Initiative (EITI).EITI
is an international framework for disclosing
payments from extractive sector companies and
government receipts. One of its key criteria is that
local civil society must have active oversight of
revenues.6
However, the government has made almost no tangible
progress on promised reforms. According to Sarah
Wykes, Senior Campaigner at Global Witness, “US$718
million of Equatorial Guinea’s oil money is still
held offshore, according to the IMF, and 76% of the
country’s recurrent expenditures are still
off-budget.7 EITI has stalled in the face of
persistent and serious violations of civil liberties.”Sworn testimony given recently by Teodoro Obiang, Jr.
before a South African court sheds further light on
a culture of institutionalised corruption.
Testifying about the source of his wealth in a
commercial case relating to the seizure of other
luxury properti |
|
|
| |
es, Obiang stated that public
officials in Equatorial Guinea are allowed to
participate in joint ventures with foreign companies
bidding for ¬government contracts and, if ¬successful,
receive “a percentage of the total cost of the
contract”. He outlined that this means that “a
cabinet minister ends up with a sizeable part of the
contract price in his bank account.”8
Global Witness Policy Adviser Sasha Lezhnev
commented: “The U.S. government has just introduced
a new initiative to fight kleptocracy, which
includes entry bans and seizure of assets of corrupt
foreign public officials. What steps will the
administration now take in light of Mr. Obiang’s
recent Malibu purchase and his admission that he
profited from his public office?”
For more information contact Sarah Wykes (+44 207
561 63 62 or +44 7703 108 449) or Sasha Lezhnev (+1
202 721 5634).
Footnotes
1. Global Witness investigates the links between the
exploitation of natural resources and the funding of
conflict and corruption. It is non-partisan in all
its countries of operation. Global Witness was co-nominated
for the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for its leading work
on ‘conflict diamonds’ and awarded the Gleitsman
Foundation prize for international activism in May
2005. The property and company records are available
on our website at
http://www.globalwitness.org/press_docs/Obiang
Malibu property records.pdf
2. See IMF Republic of Equatorial Guinea Article IV
Consultation, June 2006, p. 29,
http://www.internationalmonetaryfund.com/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=19366.
3. See CIA World Factbook: Equatorial Guinea, 2
November 2006,
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ek.html
4. See UNDP Human Development Report 2005, p. 221,
http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005/
5. See U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on
Investigations Minority Staff Report, Money
Laundering and Foreign Corruption: Enforcement and
Effectiveness of the Patriot Act; Case Study
Involving Riggs Bank, 15 July 2004,
http://www.senate.gov/~govt-aff/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=189.
6. For further information, see
www.eitransparency.org.
7. See IMF Republic of Equatorial Guinea Article IV
Consultation, June 2006, p. 25,
http://www.internationalmonetaryfund.com/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=19366.
8. The relevant passage from the affidavit is
available on our website at
http://www.globalwitness.org/EG Cape Town court
case.pdf |
|
| |
http://rds.yahoo.com/S=53720272/K=equatorial+guinea/v=2/SID=e/l=NSR/R=10/;_ylt=A9htfMK411ZFQ8AA2gvQtDMD;_
ylu=X3oDMTBkYTNuNGk0BHBvcwMxMARzZWMDc3I-/SIG=12jeo0ecn/EXP=1163405624/*-http%3A//www.globalwitness.org/press_releases/display2.php?id=389
Press Releases |
|
| |
First Test for
White House Kleptocracy Initiative – Have Oil – will
Travel |
|
| |
28/09/2006
With the imminent arrival of
President Nursultan Nazarbayev of oil rich
Kazakhstan to a red carpet lined White House and
Bush family compound in Maine, Global Witness is
deeply concerned that the much publicized White
House Kleptocracy initiative not simply be thrown by
the wayside in favour of short-term energy interests.
This long overdue and vital initiative must make a
strong stand to help clean up some of the world’s
worst kleptocratic regimes, starting with
Kazakhstan.
President Nazarbayev and other Kazakh officials
should not be invited to the U.S. for two reasons.
In an ongoing case of alleged corruption in
Kazakhstan, American banker David Giffen has been
charged by U.S. prosecutors with paying $78 million
in bribes to Nazarbayev and his former Prime
Minister Nurlan Balgimbaev from 1995-2000.
Furthermore, Kazakh officials openly admitted that a
secret $1 billion Swiss bank account existed between
1996 and 2002 made up of national oil revenues.
These two red flags should send clear signals to the
Bush Administration that fighting kleptocracy should
be on the agenda of U.S. policy towards Kazakhstan.
On August 10th, President Bush stated that the
Administration’s objective was to “defeat high level
corruption in all its forms and to deny corrupt
officials access to the international financial
system as a means of defrauding their people and
hiding their ill gotten gains.” He went on to state
that “The culture of corruption has undercut
development and good governance and bred criminality
and mistrust around the world. High level corruption
by senior government officials, or kleptocracy, is a
grave and corrosive abuse of power and represents
the most invidious type of public corruption.”
Global Witness, nominated for a Nobel Peace prize
for its work on conflict diamonds, applauds these
strongly worded statements but believes they may be
simply hollow rhetoric designed only for those who
have no strategic energy security value to the U.S.
if leaders like President Nazarbayev are not
affected by the policy. Global Witness wonders
whether the $78 million that President Nazarbayev is
alleged by U.S. prosecutors of having received from
oil companies through Mr. Giffen is “high level”
enough for the U.S. government to take action on
under its kleptocracy initiative.
“There appear to be two rules for kleptocratic
rulers – if you have oil and gas reserves that
Western countries want to get their hands on, you
can pretty much do as you please. You only have to
look at the recent visit by President Teodoro Obiang
of Equatorial Guinea – lauded as a “good friend” by
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on April 12th,
and the planned visit by President Jose Eduardo dos
Santos – kleptocratic president of Angola - to see
that this initiative might really be implemented in
a very selective way,” said Alex Yearsley of Global
Witness.
If this Presidential initiative is to truly work, as
it must, then all branches of the U.S.
administration and bureaucracy must ensure that
those most responsible for enabling and facilitating
high level corruption, particularly from the natural
resource sector, are in the words of President Bush
denied “access to our financial systems and safe
haven in our countries.”
For media enquiries please contact:
Alex Yearsley: +44 (0)7773 812901
Sasha Lezhnev: +1 202-721-5634
http://www.globalwitness.org/press_releases/display2.php?id=379
|
|
| |
Equatorial Guinea: Heir Buys $35 Million U.S. House |
|
| |
The antigraft watchdog Global
Witness called on
United States officials to investigate the
purchase of a $35 million Malibu beach house by the
son of
Equatorial Guinea’s president, Teodoro Obiang
Nguema Mbasogo, left, who has ruled his tiny
oil-producing country since 1979. His son and heir
apparent, Teodoro Nguema Obiang, officially earns
about $5,000 a month as agriculture and forestry
minister, the group said. Despite $3 billion a year
in oil revenues, most people in Equatorial Guinea
live below the poverty line. Sarah Wykes, an
investigator at Global Witness, said, “We would like
U.S. authorities to investigate where is this money
coming from.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/09/world/africa/09briefs-EQUATORIALGU_BRF.html
By
REUTERS
Published:
November 9, 2006
|
|
| |
The
tiny African state, the president's playboy son and
the $35m Malibu mansion |
|
| |
 |
Vast property has tennis courts and golf course
· Population in poverty despite $3bn oil
revenue
Chris McGreal in Johannesburg and Dan Glaister in
Malibu
Friday November 10, 2006
The Guardian
For a man paid
less than £3,000 a month, the 16 acres of mansion,
designer golf course and sprawling gardens speckled
with fountains in Malibu was quite a buy. |
|
|
| |
The views
of the ocean alone - never mind the 15,000 sq ft
mansion with eight bathrooms, a pool and tennis
courts - probably accounted for a good chunk of the
$35m (£18m) asking price. |
|
| |
But then Teodoro Nguema
Obiang's modest salary as a minister in his father's
government in Equatorial Guinea is largely symbolic,
just like the elections in which his father is
returned to power with 97% of the vote and the
distribution of oil revenues in a country with one
of the highest per capita incomes on Earth but some
of the poorest people. |
|
| |
|
Little Teodoro, as
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema's son is
known at home, appears to spend as little
time as possible fulfilling his duties as
the minister of agriculture and forestry in
the west African state. Instead he flits
between South Africa, France and the US,
pursuing business ventures such as a failed
rap label while acquiring property and a
fleet of Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Bentleys
- all made possible by the discovery of oil
in Equatorial Guinea's waters a decade ago.
At the time, there was
a promise that the country would become the
"Kuwait of Africa", but it has increasingly
come to look like Nigeria as a few
kleptocrats get rich while the masses eke
out a living. Mr Obiang probably
thought his acquisition of the Malibu house
through a front company of which he is the
owner would slip by largely unnoticed,
particularly after there was so little
comment about earlier purchases of two
houses in Cape Town and a $2m penthouse flat
in California. But the British
anti-corruption group Global Witness spotted
the sale and is publicising it as evidence
that the Obiang family has followed in a
long tradition of African rulers who plunder
their country's wealth while their people
live in poverty.
Seen from the Pacific
Coast Highway, Mr Obiang's house doesn't
look like much, at least not in the context
of the exclusive millionaires' mansions
looking out from the cliffs over the Pacific
Ocean. "Oh, that's a lovely house,"
explained Malibu Carl yesterday, watching
the surfers next to Malibu pier. "That's a
hell of a piece of property right there.
It's huge."
The house is hidden
from prying eyes by a sheer bluff and
guardhouse. But while $35m may buy a lot of
house, it cannot guarantee you privacy. A
stroll along Malibu pier reveals arched
windows, plain, cream plaster walls and a
tiled roof. Royal palm trees line the drive,
and the bright red of bougainvillea stands
out against the sandy hillside.
Described as a
"playboy", Mr Obiang may be quite interested
in meeting his neighbours. Whether they
would return the interest seems unlikely.
Mel Gibson lives on Serra Road, as does
Britney Spears. Olivia Newton John is up
there too, and so are Larry Hagman and
Titanic director James Cameron. Across the
road is the equally exclusive Malibu Colony,
the gated community that housed most of
Hollywood during the 1970s and 1980s.
"That's one of the
premier estates in Malibu," says a local
estate agent. He notes that Cher's house in
Malibu recently went on the market at $29m.
The property belonged
to a Canadian developer named Bill Connor.
Rumour has it that he sold two years ago for
$28m to a Disney executive (some say it was
someone from Fox) before its current owner
paid $35m at the beginning of this year.
"Most of these sales happen very quietly,"
says the estate agent. "The properties don't
usually hit the market."
President Obiang, who
has ruled since seizing power in 1979, has
decreed that the management of his country's
$3bn a year in oil revenues is a state
secret.
|
 |
|
|
| |
That is why it is difficult to say
for sure exactly how he comes to have about
$700m in US bank accounts. But the
president's son gave an insight into his
salary in an affidavit filed with the Cape
high court in South Africa in August, as
part of a lawsuit against him over a
commercial debt.
"Cabinet ministers and
public servants in Equatorial Guinea are by
law allowed to own companies that, in
consortium with a foreign company, can bid
for government contracts ... A cabinet
minister ends up with a sizeable part of the
contract price in his bank account," he
testified.
Global Witness wants
the US government to invoke a proclamation
by President Bush nearly three years ago
that bars corrupt foreign officials from
entering the US and allows their assets to
be seized.
But Washington is
unlikely to move against Mr Obiang when it
was so welcoming of his father only last
April. The US secretary of state,
Condoleezza Rice, called President Obiang a
"good friend" even though her own
department's annual human rights report said
officials in Equatorial Guinea use torture.
Among those on the
receiving end have been a group of
mercenaries arrested two years ago for
attempting to overthrow the regime with the
backing of Mark Thatcher.
Before the oil,
relations were not always so friendly. In
the mid-1990s the US ambassador to Malabo
was withdrawn after the state radio station
said he had been spotted conjuring up his
ancestors' spirits in a graveyard to put
spells on President Obiang. In fact, the
ambassador was the son of a Canadian airman
and was tending the graves of an RAF bomber
crew killed during the second world war.
But once the oil
started flowing, American drillers such as
ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco began pouring
billions of dollars into the country. The US
diplomats were soon back in a very different
frame of mind. Today, the $3bn annual oil
revenues gives Equatorial Guinea's 520,000
citizens the second highest income in the
world at about £26,000 per head.
But ordinary people
see little of it. Most of the population
live on less than a pound a day. Equatorial
Guinea comes bottom in the United Nations'
Human Development Index, which measures
quality of life.
Three years ago, state
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". But President Obiang is
mortal after all: he is suffering from
terminal prostate cancer. He has made it
known he favours Little Teodoro as his
successor.
Backstory
The tiny state of
Equatorial Guinea, five inhabited
islands and a mainland portion of jungle, is
one of the smallest in Africa, with
520,000 citizens. In 1979, nine
years after independence from Spain,
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema seized
power, and has been absolute ruler
ever since. In the past decade, Equatorial
Guinea has become Africa's third largest
oil producer. On paper, oil has made its
citizens the second wealthiest on the planet.
In practice, much of the £370m
revenue is grabbed by the president,
while most people live on less than a dollar
a day. A coup plot was staged in
2004, led by Simon Mann, a friend
of Sir Mark Thatcher; the former
prime minister's son escaped a claim for
millions of pounds in damages when the UK
appeal court blocked an attempt by the
dictator to sue him.
The Christian
Aid report in full
Listen to Africa |
|
| |
The
Millionaire “Minister of Chopping Down Trees” Meet
the spoiled crown prince of Equatorial Guinea Posted
on Monday, October 2, 2006. By Ken Silverstein.
|
|
| |
Not even
Gabriel Garcia Marquez could have dreamed up
Teodorin Nguema Obiang, the skirt-chasing,
champagne-swilling, nightclub-hopping, would-be
president of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea. Teodorin
would be a mere embarrassment if not for the fact
that he's the son of the current dictator, Teodoro
Obiang, and a strong candidate to succeed his ailing
father. |
|
| |
The Bush
Administration has embraced Equatorial Guinea, and
State Department officials have even been known to
claim (though never for attribution) that Obiang Sr.
could be a “model” for African reform. That's like
saying Enron could be a model for corporate reform.
Obiang was “elected” with 97 percent of the vote in
2002 and is widely deemed to be one of the world's
most kleptocratic rulers. Indeed, court papers I've
acquired from South Africa show that Teodorin
effectively acknowledges that ministers can legally
plunder the treasury under his father's rule.
But first a brief profile of the man who would be
king: Teodorin holds a cabinet post—he's the
Minister of Forestry, or the “Minister of Chopping
Down Trees,” as a recent New York Daily News article
called him—but very rarely attends government
meetings. That's because he spends most of his time
abroad: in Beverly Hills, where he owned a lavish
estate, started a music company called TNO, and
dated the rapper Eve, who recently dumped him; in
New York City, where several years ago he offered
$11 million to buy a Fifth Avenue condominium owned
by Saudi arms-dealer Adnan Khashoggi, only to be
rebuffed by the condo's board; in Paris, where he
tools around in a white Rolls Royce; and in South
Africa, where he recently has bought several
vacation homes.
Like his father and many other top government
officials, Teodorin used to stash part of his loot
at Riggs Bank in Washington—until a Senate
investigation ignited a scandal that ended the
relationship between the bank and Equatorial Guinea.
A source familiar with Teodorin's outlandish
spending habits told me that Junior would frequently
call his personal banker at Riggs with imperious and
extravagant demands. One day he'd want arrangements
made to fly his friends to Rio for Carnival; on
another day he'd need to have a Bentley airfreighted
from London to Los Angeles; and on another still
he'd demand that a helicopter be immediately
dispatched to offload a female companion from a
cruise ship because she fallen out of his favor.
Antony Goldman, a London-based risk analyst
specializing in west African oil, has long followed
Obiang Jr.'s antics. “Teodorin has many enemies in
and outside of Equatorial Guinea but the allegations
of impropriety and excess [that surround him] are
well documented,” Goldman says. “If even a quarter
were close to the truth, it would make him a
particularly extraordinary character, and peculiarly
ill-equipped to be president.”
Now a man named George Ehlers, the owner of a South
African construction company, is suing the
government of Equatorial Guinea. According to
several stories in the Sunday Times of Johannesburg,
Ehlers signed a contract to develop an airport in
Equatorial Guinea seven years ago. But after
becoming embroiled in a dispute with a government
official, Ehlers had to abandon the project and
surreptitiously evacuate his staff, which at one
point had been jailed.
Ehlers was never paid for any of his work, and was
forced to leave behind millions of dollars in
equipment in Equatorial Guinea. He sued in Cape Town
High Court and asked that he be compensated in the
form of two homes that Teodorin purchased in the
city in 2004 and that are worth a combined $6
million (about half of Equatorial Guinea's annual
education budget). Ehlers claimed that while the
homes were registered in Teodorin's name, they were
purchased with state money and hence formally owned
by the Obiang government, with which he had signed
the airport deal.
Teodorin denies that, saying he paid for the homes
with his own money and the properties therefore
cannot be seized to pay a government debt.
The court initially ruled in favor of Ehlers and
attached the properties but it is now considering an
appeal by Teodorin.
Either way, the questions remains as to how a humble
public servant in Equatorial Guinea, whose official
salary is no more than a few thousand dollars a
month, could possibly afford to buy such lavish
properties.In fact, the Sunday Times reports that
the homes apparently “were not fit for the son of
the president of one of Africa's most prolific
oil-producing countries.” Teodorin's substantial
expenditure on renovations and refurbishment
included hundreds of thousands of dollars for a
home-theater sound system, plasma-screen televisions,
and bathrooms replete with spa baths, chrome
fittings and marble surfaces. (The newspaper also
quoted an unnamed security guard who had worked for
Teodorin. The guard said his employer “always had a
briefcase filled with cash on hand” and that he
spent thousands of dollars on champagne and wining
and dining female companions.)
So how does Teodorin foot the bills? In a notarized
affidavit he filed in the case, he sought to explain
the source of his income:
Cabinet Ministers and public servants in Equatorial
Guinea are by law allowed to own companies that, in
consortium with a foreign company, can bid for
government contracts and should the company be
successful, then what percentage of the total cost
of the contract the company gets will depend on the
terms negotiated between the parties. But, in any
event, it means that a cabinet minister ends up with
a sizable part of the contract price in his bank
account.
The only thing that may prevent Teodorin from
succeeding his father is intense opposition from
other members of the country's tiny ruling circle,
who fear that the kooky but menacing Teodorin will
become an international laughingstock who will hog
billions of dollars of oil spoils, most which is
produced by American firms. If he does ascend to the
throne, rest assured that the Bush Administration
will find a way to justify continued warm ties with
its “model” ally.
Nota: The Millionaire “Minister of Chopping Down
Trees” Meet the spoiled crown prince of Equatorial
Guinea. See english version bellow spanish one |
|
| |
http://www.guinea-ecuatorial.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=621
Madrid.- 7 de octubre de 2006. |
|
| |
How African
president’s son blew millions SA creditors’ High
Court lawsuit reveals his lavish lifestyle "A
Lamborghini Murcielago at R3.5m and two Bentleys at
R6m have sat in a garage for over a year"
|
|
| |
 |
NASHIRA DAVIDS
TEODORO Nguema Obiang,
the fabulously wealthy son of the
president of Equatorial Guinea, has
provided an intimate glimpse into his
extravagant lifestyle during a court
battle over his luxury assets.
A week ago President Teodoro Obiang
Nguema Mbasago fired the entire Cabinet
of the oil-rich country for corruption
and incompetence — including his son,
the Minister of Forestry.
|
 |
|
|
| |
However, this
week, Obiang jnr got his old job back.
Details of his lavish spending habits emerged in the
Cape Town High Court this week, as he fought off
local creditors who seek to attach luxury mansions
he snapped up during a shopping spree in South
Africa |
|
| |
At almost R25000 a month he hired an assistant to
pay his bills in Cape Town, he forked out R12000 to
have his lawn trimmed and pool cleaned and was keen
on installing a R1.1-million home-theatre sound
system in one of the houses.
Engineering Design and Construction, a Johannesburg
company, asked the court six months ago to attach
Obiang’s two homes in Clifton and Constantia —
valued at more than R50-million.
It claimed the government of Equatorial Guinea had
not paid it for work done in the country in 2000.
South African employees of the company allegedly had
to flee the tiny country, with the help of a Russian
pilot, leaving all their expensive equipment behind.
Company owner George Ehlers claims the government
owes him more than R50-million.
Ehlers claimed the homes were registered in Obiang
jnr’s name, but ultimately were owned by the
government of Equatorial Guinea — with which he had
signed a contract.
Ehlers was a happy man earlier this year when the
court granted a provisional order.
But Obiang jnr is not giving up his South African
riches without a fight, claiming he bought the
properties with his own money. And on Thursday
morning his father indicated that he, too, would be
opposing the application.
To prove his case, Obiang jnr filed documents in
court, detailing his arrangements to upgrade and
maintain his homes. He had employed gardening
services, a Swiss architect, local interior
decorators and security companies.
In February 2004 he visited Pretoria to open the
Equatorial Guinea embassy, then flew to Cape Town
for the opening of Parliament with the Equatorial
Guinea ambassador.
“That is when I decided that I wanted to purchase
property in South Africa and in Cape Town in
particular,” he said in court papers.
He had R25.4-million transferred from an overseas
bank account to South Africa to pay for the Clifton
home in March 2004. Two months later he had
R28.1-million transferred for a house in
Bishopscourt.
But it seems the homes were not fit for the son of
the president of one of Africa’s most prolific
oil-producing countries. “Both houses were in need
of extensive renovations and refurbishments. They
were not in a fit state to carry out any
entertainment,” he said.
He called on OKHA Interiors to do some touch-ups at
his Clifton bungalow. A quotation indicated that
this would set him back R7-million to R8-million.
But the Bishopscourt home would have cost a mere
R3-million to upgrade. A “cost report” compiled by
interior decorator Peter McNamara revealed that: |
|
| |
•A Unico air-conditioning
system would be installed for over R500000;
•A R1.1-million Bang & Olufsen audio system was to
be installed throughout the house — with
plasma-screen televisions, including a BeoVison
65-inch plasma screen to the value of R118400 and
two pairs of speakers at R104000 in the bar area;
•The kitchen would house a R46000 Gaggenau fridge
and freezer, and the bar area a R12000 Scotsman ice
machine; and
•Ordinary baths would be converted into spa baths
with chrome fittings, side and mini jets and marble
surfaces.
But the renovations couldn’t all be completed
because of the February court order.
With a fancy home to play in, Obiang jnr needed a
few cars to play with. He bought a Lamborghini
Murcielago for R3.5-million and two Bentleys for
R6-million. One of the Bentleys was customised to
suit his needs, with a cream interior and curtains
for privacy. The cars have been standing in a garage
for over a year.
Christo Schoeman, who is acting for Ehlers as well
as other creditors, applied to the Cape Town
Magistrate’s Court and the Cape High Court to have
the Lamborghini attached. According to Schoeman,
Obiang jnr owes an architectural firm R60000 and his
personal bodyguard from Cape Town more than R250000.
To avoid attracting the attention of the media,
Obiang jnr sought advice to possibly register the
properties in the name of a trust.
“I did not wish my name to be associated with the
properties in any way concerned.
“I insisted on this because I did not want the
newsmakers, journalists and photographers to know
where I lived in Cape Town, for the simple reason
that I did not wish to be pestered by photographers
invading my privacy whenever I was in Cape Town,” he
said.
He also hired people to maintain the homes.
Last year he signed up Illana Jeftha from Cape Town
as his personal assistant.
In an affidavit, she said she was responsible for
paying the municipal rates and taxes, telephone
account and electricity account. She also had to
arrange meetings and attend to the transport needs
of Obiang jnr and his guests. Her salary was almost
R25 000 a month.
“As part of my contract, my employer has provided me
with a Mercedes Benz ML 350 motor vehicle ... in
order that I may be able to better perform the
duties,” said Jeftha.
A security guard he hired said that Obiang jnr lived
like a king in Cape Town.
The man, who doesn’t want to be named, detailed how,
in one night, his employer blew R15000 on three
bottles of champagne at the Mount Nelson Hotel and
then, at a club, R1500 on another bottle, which he
hardly touched.
“He would also hand out R200 notes to the street
children before going clubbing — simply because he
could,” said the security guard.
Obiang also allegedly spent thousands of rands
wining and dining beautiful girls in the city. He
stayed at five-star hotels only and always had a
briefcase filled with cash on hand.
http://www.suntimes.co.za/Articles/TarkArticle.aspx?ID=2189753 |
|
| |
►► |
|
|
