Eduardo González
The Progress Party of Equatorial Guinea has expressed its “absolute outrage” at the upcoming event in Madrid intended to “launder the image of the dictatorial regime of Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, disguised as an ‘informational breakfast’ about supposed investment opportunities.”
“While the Guinean people go hungry, while young people are arrested, tortured, and murdered, while thousands of families live under fear and repression, a media outlet that should be defending the values of democracy and human rights is lending itself to serving as a propaganda platform for one of the oldest and most criminal dictatorships in Africa,” the party leadership, based in Spain, stated in a press release.
“What is being prepared is not an informational event: it is a political and business whitewashing operation, financed with money stolen from the Guinean people,” it continued. “It is unacceptable that a Spanish newspaper opens its doors and lends its prestige to allow four ministers of the regime—responsible for propaganda, control of public funds, political repression, and the plundering of the country’s resources—to sell a completely false image of stability and opportunity,” he added.
“While our compatriots suffer imprisonment, torture, and hunger, this newspaper rolls out the red carpet for those responsible for this suffering so they can pose for photos and lie about a country they have hijacked,” declared the president of the PPGE, Armengol Engonga. “No democratic media outlet should accept money stained with blood and corruption,” he warned.
The PPGE also warned Spanish investors and businesspeople that “there is no legal security or transparency in Equatorial Guinea under the Obiang dictatorship.” “Every promise of stability is a carefully crafted lie designed to attract foreign capital that ultimately strengthens the regime’s corrupt apparatus. Those who participate in this charade should know that they are contributing to perpetuating the oppression of the Guinean people,” he added.
Specifically, the PPGE refers to an event organized by the newspaper ‘La Razón’ for next Thursday, December 11, in which “some of the main authorities of Equatorial Guinea” will “present the investment opportunities that their country can offer Spain through the breakfast briefing ‘Diversification of the Economy’”.
The guests at the event are four high-ranking representatives of the Government of Equatorial Guinea: Job Obiang Esono Mbengono, Minister Secretary General of the Presidency; Jerónimo Osa Osa Ecoro, Minister of State for Information, Press and Culture; Iván Bacale Ebe Molina, Minister of Finance; and Antonio Oburu Ondo, Minister of Hydrocarbons and Mining Development. Spanish businesspeople interested in learning about the opportunities that Equatorial Guinea offers for Spanish investment will also be present at the meeting.
