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African Minister buys multi-million dollar California mansion

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.
 
 
By DIANA LJUNGAEUS
http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/malibu-bad-neighbor/15436/?page=2
Wednesday, January 17, 2007 - 6:00 pm
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
 
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
 
 

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