Throw away the key

[malaise]

http://news.scotsman.com/world/Mann-jailed-for-34-years.4264205.jp

<snip>
Seeking leniency, Mann apologised during his trial and depicted himself as a pawn of powerful intelligence agencies and international businessmen trying to seize power in Equatorial Guinea, sub-Saharan Africa's third-largest oil producer where Nguema has ruled dictatorially since 1979.

Describing himself as a mere "employee," 56-year-old Mann said the real masterminds behind the coup plot were business tycoons, including London-based Lebanese millionaire Eli Calil and Sir Mark Thatcher, son of the former prime minister. He also said the US, Spanish and South African governments had given covert support to the attempt to overthrow Nguema.
---
Thatcher's son should be in jail too

[Mind_your_head]

1. Awww.....what a nice 'apology'

*clap* *clap* *clap*

(another one who's not 'sorry' for anything, except for being caught/subject to punishment).....for SEVERE crime.

[anigbrowl]

2. How dare they mess with the paradise on earth that is Equatorial Guinea

From the Wikipedia article on the country...
"The current president of Equatorial Guinea is Retired Brig. Gen. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. The 1982 constitution of Equatorial Guinea gives Obiang extensive powers, including naming and dismissing members of the cabinet, making laws by decree, dissolving the Chamber of Representatives, negotiating and ratifying treaties and calling legislative elections. Obiang retains his role as commander in chief of the armed forces and minister of defence, and he maintains close supervision of the military activity. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President and operates under powers designated by the President. The Prime Minister coordinates government activities in areas other than foreign affairs, national defense and security.

On December 15, 2002,<3> Equatorial Guinea's four main opposition parties withdrew from the country's presidential election. Obiang won an election widely considered fraudulent by members of the Western press.

Diplomats and even ministers have been caught smuggling drugs, sometimes using diplomatic bags and even the president's baggage on state trips. The incumbent president has never equalled the bloodthirsty reputation of former dictator Francisco Macías Nguema, whom he overthrew. On Christmas of 1975, Macías had 150 alleged coup plotters executed to the sound of a band playing Mary Hopkin's tune Those Were the Days in a national stadium.<4>

A huge proportion of the £370 million revenue is confiscated by the president while most of the 500,000 subjects subsist on less than a dollar a day, sewage runs through the streets of the capital Malabo, and there is no public transport and little drinking water or electricity.<5>

According to a March 2004 BBC profile,<6> politics within the country are currently dominated by tensions between Obiang's son, Teodorin, and other close relatives with powerful positions in the security forces. The tension may be rooted in power shift arising from the dramatic increase in oil production which has occurred since 1997.

A November 2004 report<7> named Mark Thatcher as a financial backer of a March 2004 attempt to topple Obiang, organized by Simon Mann. Various accounts also name Britain's MI6, the United Sates of America's CIA, and Spain as having been tacit supporters of the coup attempt.<8> Nevertheless, the Amnesty International report released in June 2005<9> on the ensuing trial of those allegedly involved highlighted the prosecution's failure to produce conclusive evidence that a coup attempt had actually taken place.

On February 29, 2008, President Obiang dissolved parliament and announced that municipal and parliamentary elections would be held on May 4. His decree also called for a presidential election in 2010<10>."

A coup might not be such a terrible idea if you ask me. It doesn't sound like the place could become much worse.

[malaise]

3. Yeh let the imperialists continue to rape Africa

It's been the norm for so long. Look it's all about the oil.

[anigbrowl]

4. The people in that country are getting raped anyhow. Is it better for being home-grown?

"Despite a per capita GDP (PPP) of more than US$30,000<12> (CIA Factbook $50,200<13>) which is as of 2008 the ninth highest in the world, Equatorial Guinea ranks 121st out of 177 countries on the United Nations Human Development Index.

In July 2004, the US Senate published an investigation into Riggs Bank, a Washington-based bank into which most of Equatorial Guinea's oil revenues were paid until recently, and which also banked for Chile's Augusto Pinochet. The Senate report, as to Equatorial Guinea, showed that at least $35 million were siphoned off by Obiang, his family and senior officials of his regime. The president has denied any wrongdoing. While Riggs Bank in February 2005 paid $9 million as restitution for its banking for Chile's Augusto Pinochet, no restitution was made with regard to Equatorial Guinea, as reported in detail in an Anti-Money Laundering Report from Inner City Press.<14>"

I'm not in favor of imperialism, but it might be easier to hold a new government to account by imposing conditional aid or sanctions. Clearly, the government in place now treats people like shit and is run by thugs. From a purely pragmatic point of view, it seems to me that the it would be better off to allow or even aid such a coup, but make recognition of a replacement government conditional on raising the living standards of the population. There's only about 5-600,000 of them, so it ought to be eminently doable.