How our incoming secretary of state helped to enrich Africas nastiest dictatorship
By Tutu Alicante February 1 at 11:50 AM
Tutu Alicante is executive director of EG Justice, a nonprofit that promotes human rights and democratic values in Equatorial Guinea.
Rex Tillerson’s confirmation hearing for secretary of state on Jan. 11 was — as anticipated — saturated with hard-hitting questions about climate change and his cozy relationship with Russia’s oligarchy. But several senators also raised incisive questions about ExxonMobil’s role in my homeland, Equatorial Guinea, noting that Tillerson’s company helped to sustain, enrich and embolden a dictator and the circle of family and sycophants who surround him. Tillerson feigned ignorance, danced around the questions, and even avoided mentioning the country by name.
“I have no direct knowledge of that,” Tillerson replied to a question from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.). To Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), he claimed: “I’d have to review for my memory the circumstance you’re talking about.” Why would Tillerson dodge questions about a nation where, just two years ago, his company pompously celebrated its 1-billion-barrel-production threshold?
An inconvenient truth: Exxon enables kleptocracy in Equatorial Guinea.
In the 20 years after the 1991 oil discovery in Equatorial Guinea, the country’s GDP grew from $130 million to $2.3 billion. This sudden growth was singularly fueled by the petroleum industry, with ExxonMobil drilling in the largest proven oil reserve. Overnight, Equatorial Guinea went from a repressive, corrupt, poor and isolated nation to a filthy-rich — but still tyrannical and obscure — darling of the West. Today, Equatorial Guinea has the highest GDP per capita of any sub-Saharan country, yet nearly two-thirds of the population lives in extreme poverty. Spending on health, education and other social sectors remains below the Central Africa regional average. Infant mortality rates rival those of Afghanistan.
Instead of benefiting the people, oil revenue is subsidizing the lavish lives of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema — in power since 1979, when he had the former president executed — and his extended family. This lifestyle includes mega-mansions, yachts, sport cars and luxury goods around the world, as well as the vast trove of Michael Jackson memorabilia collected by Obiang’s eldest son, the nation’s vice president and heir apparent.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2017/02/01/how-our-incoming-secretary-of-state-helped-to-enrich-africas-nastiest-dictatorship/?utm_term=.d15e7371d61b