Editing Equatorial Guinea (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Equatorial Guinea}}
[[African Pygmies|Pygmies]] likely once lived in the continental region that is now Equatorial Guinea, but are today found only in isolated pockets in southern Río Muni. [[Bantu languages|Bantu]] migrations likely started around 2,000 BC from between south-east Nigeria and north-west Cameroon (the Grassfields).<ref>Bostoen (K.), Clist (B.), Doumenge (C.), Grollemund (R.), Hombert (J.-M.), Koni Muluwa (J.) & Maley (J.), 2015, Middle to Late Holocene Paleoclimatic Change and the Early Bantu Expansion in the Rain Forests of Western Central Africa, Current Anthropology, 56 (3), pp.354–384.</ref> They must have settled continental Equatorial Guinea around 500 BC at the latest.<ref>Clist (B.). 1990, Des derniers chasseurs aux premiers métallurgistes : sédentarisation et débuts de la métallurgie du fer (Cameroun, Gabon, Guinée-Equatoriale). In Lanfranchi (R.) & Schwartz (D.) éds. Paysages quaternaires de l'Afrique Centrale Atlantique. Paris : ORSTOM, Collection didactiques : 458–478</ref><ref>Clist (B.). 1998. Nouvelles données archéologiques sur l'histoire ancienne de la Guinée-Equatoriale. L'Anthropologie 102 (2) : 213–217</ref> The earliest settlements on Bioko Island are dated to AD 530.<ref>Sánchez-Elipe Lorente (M.). 2015. Las comunidades de la eda del hierro en África Centro-Occidental: cultura material e identidad, Tesi Doctoral, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid</ref> The [[Annobonese Creole|Annobón]] population, originally native to [[Angola]], was introduced by the Portuguese via [[São Tomé island]].{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

=== First European contact and Portuguese rule (1472–1778) ===
[[File:1729 West Africa map (Cameroon & Nigeria).jpg|thumb|left|[[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] rule in Equatorial Guinea lasted from the arrival of [[Fernão do Pó]] (Fernando Pó) in 1472 until the [[Treaty of El Pardo (1778)|1778 Treaty of El Pardo]]]]

The [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese explorer]] [[Fernão do Pó|Fernando Pó]], seeking a path to India, is credited as being the first European to see the island of Bioko, in 1472. He called it ''Formosa'' ("Beautiful"), but it quickly took on the name of its European discoverer. [[Fernando Pó (island)|Fernando Pó]] and Annobón were colonized by Portugal in 1474. The first factories were established on the islands around 1500 as the Portuguese quickly recognized the positives of the islands including volcanic soil and disease-resistant highlands. Despite natural advantages, initial Portuguese efforts in 1507 to establish a sugarcane plantation and town near what is now Concepción on Fernando Pó failed due to Bubi hostility and fever.<ref>Fegley, Randall (1989). ''Equatorial Guinea: An African Tragedy'', p. 5. Peter Lang, New York. {{ISBN|0-8204-0977-4}}</ref>

=== Early Spanish rule and lease to Britain (1778–1844) ===
[[File:África Ecuatorial Española.svg|thumb|left|Evolution of Spanish possessions and claims in the Gulf of Guinea, 1778–1968 (in Spanish)]]

In 1778, Queen [[Maria I of Portugal]] and King [[Charles III of Spain]] signed the [[Treaty of El Pardo (1778)|Treaty of El Pardo]] which ceded [[Bioko]], adjacent islets, and commercial rights to the [[Bight of Bonny|Bight of Biafra]] between the [[Niger River|Niger]] and [[Ogoue River|Ogoue]] rivers to [[Spanish Empire|Spain]] in exchange for large areas in South America that are now Western Brazil. Brigadier Felipe José, Count of Arjelejos formally took possession of Bioko from Portugal on 21 October 1778. After sailing for Annobón to take possession, the Count died of disease caught on Bioko and the fever-ridden crew mutinied. The crew landed on São Tomé instead where they were imprisoned by the Portuguese authorities after having lost over 80% of their men to sickness.<ref>Fegley, Randall (1989). ''Equatorial Guinea: An African Tragedy'', p. 6. Peter Lang, New York. {{ISBN|0-8204-0977-4}}</ref> As a result of this disaster, Spain was thereafter hesitant to invest heavily in its new possession. However, despite the setback Spaniards began to use the island as a base for slave trading on the nearby mainland. Between 1778 and 1810, the territory of what became Equatorial Guinea was administered by the [[Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata]], based in [[Buenos Aires]].<ref name="Fegley, Randall 1989 p. 6-7">Fegley, Randall (1989). ''Equatorial Guinea: An African Tragedy'', p. 6–7. Peter Lang, New York. {{ISBN|0-8204-0977-4}}</ref>

Unwilling to invest heavily in the development of Fernando Pó, from 1827 to 1843, the Spanish leased a base at Malabo on [[Bioko]] to the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] which it had sought as part of its efforts to suppress the [[Atlantic slave trade|transatlantic slave trade]].<ref>"Fernando Po", Encyclopædia Britannica, 1911.</ref> Without Spanish permission, the British moved the headquarters of the Mixed Commission for the Suppression of Slave Traffic to Fernando Pó in 1827, before moving it back to [[Sierra Leone]] under an agreement with Spain in 1843. Spain's decision to abolish slavery in 1817 at British insistence damaged the colony's perceived value to the authorities and so leasing naval bases was an effective revenue earner from an otherwise unprofitable possession.<ref name="Fegley, Randall 1989 p. 6-7" /> An agreement by Spain to sell its African colony to the British was cancelled in 1841 due to metropolitan public opinion and opposition by Spanish Congress.<ref>Fegley, Randall (1989). ''Equatorial Guinea: An African Tragedy'', p. 7–8. Peter Lang, New York. {{ISBN|0-8204-0977-4}}</ref>

=== Late 19th century (1844–1900) ===
[[File:(1897) Golfo de Guinea.jpg|thumb|Map of the Spanish possessions in 1897, before the [[Treaty of Paris (1900)]]]]

In 1844, the British returned the island to Spanish control and the area became known as the "Territorios Españoles del Golfo de Guinea". Due to epidemics, Spain did not invest much in the colony, and in 1862, an outbreak of [[yellow fever]] killed many of the whites that had settled on the island. Despite this, plantations continued to be established by private citizens through the second half of the 19th century.<ref name=autogenerated3>Fegley, Randall (1989). ''Equatorial Guinea: An African Tragedy'', p. 13. Peter Lang, New York. {{ISBN|0-8204-0977-4}}</ref>

The [[plantation]]s of [[Bioko|Fernando Pó]] were mostly run by a black [[Creole elite]], later known as [[Fernandino peoples|Fernandinos]]. The British settled some 2,000 Sierra Leoneans and freed slaves there during their rule, and a trickle of immigration from West Africa and the West Indies continued after the British left. A number of freed Angolan slaves, Portuguese-African creoles and immigrants from Nigeria, and Liberia also began to be settled in the colony, where they quickly began to join the new group.<ref name=autogenerated1>Fegley, Randall (1989). ''Equatorial Guinea: An African Tragedy'', p. 9. Peter Lang, New York. {{ISBN|0-8204-0977-4}}</ref> To the local mix were added Cubans, Filipinos, Jews and Spaniards of various colours, many of whom had been deported to Africa for political or other crimes, as well as some settlers backed by the government.<ref>Fegley, Randall (1989). ''Equatorial Guinea: An African Tragedy'', p. 8–9. Peter Lang, New York. {{ISBN|0-8204-0977-4}}</ref>

By 1870, the prognosis of whites that lived on the island was much improved after recommendations that they live in the highlands, and by 1884 much of the minimal administrative machinery and key plantations had moved to [[Pico Basilé|Basile]] hundreds of meters above sea level. [[Henry Morton Stanley]] had labeled Fernando Pó "a jewel which Spain did not polish" for refusing to enact such a policy. Despite the improved survival chances of Europeans living on the island, [[Mary Kingsley]], who was staying on the island, still described Fernando Pó as "a more uncomfortable form of execution" for Spaniards appointed there.<ref name=autogenerated3 />

There was also a trickle of immigration from the neighboring Portuguese islands, escaped slaves, and prospective planters. Although a few of the [[Fernandino peoples|Fernandinos]] were Catholic and Spanish-speaking, about nine-tenths of them were Protestant and English-speaking on the eve of the First World War, and [[pidgin English]] was the ''[[lingua franca]]'' of the island. The Sierra Leoneans were particularly well placed as planters while labor recruitment on the [[Ivory Coast|Windward coast]] continued. The Fernandinos became traders and middlemen between the natives and Europeans.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> A freed slave from the West Indies by way of [[Sierra Leone]] named William Pratt established the cocoa crop on Fernando Pó.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clarence-Smith |first=William Gervase |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-1WGAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22William+Pratt%22+cocoa&pg=PA104 |title=Cocoa and Chocolate, 1765-1914 |date=2 September 2003 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-60778-5 |page=104 |language=en |access-date=6 September 2022 |archive-date=23 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240223193836/https://books.google.com/books?id=-1WGAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22William+Pratt%22+cocoa&pg=PA104#v=onepage&q=%22William%20Pratt%22%20cocoa&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Early 20th century (1900–1945) ===
{{Main|Spanish Guinea}}
[[File:Eq Guinea 1900 ES.PNG|thumb|Borders after the agreement of 1900 on the land that would become [[Spanish Guinea]], until the independence of 1968]]

Spain had not occupied the large area in the [[Bight of Biafra]] to which it had right by [[treaty]], and the French had expanded their occupation at the expense of the territory claimed by Spain. Madrid only partly backed the explorations of men like [[Manuel Iradier]] who had signed treaties in the interior as far as Gabon and Cameroon, leaving much of the land out of "effective occupation" as demanded by the terms of the 1885 [[Berlin Conference]]. Minimal government backing for mainland annexation came as a result of public opinion and a need for labour on Fernando Pó.<ref>Fegley, Randall (1989). ''Equatorial Guinea: An African Tragedy'', p. 18. Peter Lang, New York. {{ISBN|0-8204-0977-4}}</ref>

The eventual [[Treaty of Paris (1900)|treaty of Paris]] in 1900 left Spain with the continental [[enclave and exclave|enclave]] of Río Muni, only 26,000&nbsp;km{{sup|2}} out of the 300,000km{{sup|2}} stretching east to the [[Ubangi River|Ubangi river]] which the Spaniards had initially claimed.<ref name=Clarence-Smith>Clarence-Smith, William Gervase (1986) [http://es.scribd.com/doc/63545279/The-Cambridge-History-of-Africa-Volume-7-From-1905-to-1940-0521225051-1986 "Spanish Equatorial Guinea, 1898–1940"] in ''The Cambridge History of Africa: From 1905 to 1940'' Ed. J. D. Fage, A. D. Roberts, & Roland Anthony Oliver. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220142411/http://es.scribd.com/doc/63545279/The-Cambridge-History-of-Africa-Volume-7-From-1905-to-1940-0521225051-1986 |date=20 February 2014 }}</ref> The humiliation of the Franco-Spanish negotiations, combined with the disaster in Cuba led to the head of the Spanish negotiating team, [[Pedro Gover y Tovar]], committing suicide on the voyage home on 21 October 1901.<ref name=autogenerated2>Fegley, Randall (1989). ''Equatorial Guinea: An African Tragedy'', p. 19. Peter Lang, New York. {{ISBN|0-8204-0977-4}}</ref> Iradier himself died in despair in 1911; decades later, the port of [[Cogo, Equatorial Guinea|Cogo]] was renamed Puerto Iradier in his honour.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Land regulations issued in 1904–1905 favoured Spaniards, and most of the later big planters arrived from Spain after that.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} An agreement was made with Liberia in 1914 to import cheap labor. Due to malpractice however, the Liberian government eventually ended the treaty after revelations about the state of Liberian workers on Fernando Pó in the Christy Report which brought down the country's president [[Charles D. B. King]] in 1930.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

[[File:Corisco-Saliendo de misa-1910.jpg|thumb|[[Corisco]] in 1910]]By the late nineteenth century, the Bubi were protected from the demands of the planters by Spanish [[Claretians|Claretian]] missionaries, who were very influential in the colony and eventually organised the Bubi into little mission theocracies reminiscent of the famous [[Jesuit]] [[Reducciones|reductions]] in [[Paraguay]]. Catholic penetration was furthered by two small insurrections in 1898 and 1910 protesting [[conscription]] of [[Forced labor|forced labour]] for the plantations. The Bubi were disarmed in 1917, and left dependent on the missionaries.<ref name="Clarence-Smith" /> Serious labour shortages were temporarily solved by a massive influx of refugees from German [[Kamerun]], along with thousands of white German soldiers who stayed on the island for several years.<ref name=autogenerated2 />

Between 1926 and 1959, Bioko and Río Muni were united as the colony of [[Spanish Guinea]]. The economy was based on large [[cocoa bean|cacao]] and [[coffee]] plantations and [[logging]] concessions and the workforce was mostly immigrant [[contract labour]] from [[Liberia]], [[Nigeria]], and [[Cameroun]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Martino, Enrique|title=Clandestine Recruitment Networks in the Bight of Biafra: Fernando Pó's Answer to the Labour Question, 1926–1945|journal=International Review of Social History|volume=57|pages=39–72|url=http://www.opensourceguinea.org/2013/03/enrique-martino-clandestine-recruitment.html|doi=10.1017/s0020859012000417|year=2012|doi-access=free|access-date=22 September 2013|archive-date=24 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024192516/http://www.opensourceguinea.org/2013/03/enrique-martino-clandestine-recruitment.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Between 1914 and 1930, an estimated 10,000 Liberians went to Fernando Po under a labour treaty that was stopped altogether in 1930.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 7|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1986|editor-last=Roberts|editor-first=A. D.|page=540}}</ref> With Liberian workers no longer available, planters of Fernando Po turned to Río Muni. Campaigns were mounted to subdue the [[Fang people]] in the 1920s, at the time that Liberia was beginning to cut back on recruitment. There were garrisons of the colonial guard throughout the enclave by 1926, and the whole colony was considered 'pacified' by 1929.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi=10.1080/14636204.2013.790703|title=La última selva de España: Antropófagos, misioneros y guardias civiles. Crónica de la conquista de los Fang de la Guinea Española, 1914–1930|journal=Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies|volume=13|issue=3|page=315|year=2012|last1=Castillo-Rodríguez|first1=S.|s2cid=145077430}}</ref>

[[File:Iberia- vuelo inaugural a Bata (Guinea) (1941) (5811105541).jpg|thumb|right|Inaugural flight with [[Iberia (airline)|Iberia]] from [[Madrid]] to [[Bata, Equatorial Guinea|Bata]], 1941]]

The [[Spanish Civil War]] had a major impact on the colony. A group of 150 Spanish whites, including the Governor-General and Vice-Governor-General of Río Muni, created a socialist party called the Popular Front in the enclave which served to oppose the interests of the Fernando Pó plantation owners. When the War broke out [[Francisco Franco]] ordered Nationalist forces based in the Canaries to ensure control over Equatorial Guinea. In September 1936, Nationalist forces backed by Falangists from Fernando Pó took control of Río Muni, which under Governor-General Luiz Sanchez Guerra Saez and his deputy Porcel had backed the Republican government. By November, the Popular Front and its supporters had been defeated and Equatorial Guinea secured for Franco. The commander in charge of the occupation, Juan Fontán Lobé, was appointed Governor-General by Franco and began to exert more Spanish control over the enclave interior.<ref>Fegley, Randall (1989). ''Equatorial Guinea: An African Tragedy''. New York: Peter Lang. pp. 20–21. {{ISBN|0-8204-0977-4}}.</ref>

Río Muni officially had a little over 100,000 people in the 1930s; escape into [[Cameroun]] or [[Gabon]] was easy. Fernando Pó thus continued to suffer from labour shortages. The French only briefly permitted recruitment in Cameroun, and the main source of labour came to be [[Igbo people|Igbo]] smuggled in canoes from [[Calabar]] in [[Nigeria]]. This resolution led to Fernando Pó becoming one of Africa's most productive agricultural areas after the [[Second World War]].<ref name="Clarence-Smith" />

=== Final years of Spanish rule (1945–1968) ===
[[File:Naval Infantry in Spanish Guinea 1964.jpg|thumb|[[Civil Guard (Spain)|Guardia Civil]] and [[Spanish Marine Infantry|Marine Infantry]] in [[Spanish Guinea]] in 1964]]
[[File:Fraga na sinatura da independencia de Guinea Ecuatorial.jpg|thumb|Signing of the independence of Equatorial Guinea by the Spanish minister [[Manuel Fraga]] together with the new Equatorial Guinean president [[Macías Nguema]] on 12 October 1968]]

Politically, post-war colonial history has three fairly distinct phases: up to 1959, when its status was raised from "colonial" to "provincial", following the approach of the [[Portuguese Empire]]; between 1960 and 1968, when Madrid attempted a partial [[decolonisation]] aimed at keeping the territory as part of the Spanish system; and from 1968 on, after the territory became an independent [[republic]]. The first phase consisted of little more than a continuation of previous policies; these closely resembled the policies of Portugal and France, notably in dividing the population into a vast majority governed as 'natives' or non-citizens, and a very small minority (together with whites) admitted to civic status as ''[[emancipados]]'', [[Cultural assimilation|assimilation]] to the metropolitan culture being the only permissible means of advancement.<ref>Crowder, Michael, ed. (1984). ''The Cambridge History of Africa: Volume 8, from C. 1940 to C. 1975''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|0-521-22409-8}}.</ref>

This "provincial" phase saw the beginnings of [[nationalism]], but chiefly among small groups who had taken refuge from the ''[[Caudillo]]''{{'}}s paternal hand in Cameroun and Gabon. They formed two bodies: the [[Atanasio Ndongo Miyone|Movimiento Nacional de Liberación de la Guinea]] (MONALIGE), and the [[Idea Popular de Guinea Ecuatorial]] (IPGE). By the late 1960s, much of the African continent had been granted independence. Aware of this trend, the Spanish began to increase efforts to prepare the country for independence. The [[Gross national income|gross national product]] per capita in 1965 was $466, which was the highest in black Africa; the Spanish constructed an international airport at Santa Isabel, a television station and increased the literacy rate to 89%. In 1967, the number of hospital beds per capita in Equatorial Guinea was higher than Spain itself, with 1637 beds in 16 hospitals. By the end of colonial rule, the number of Africans in higher education was in only the double digits.<ref>Fegley, Randall (1989). ''Equatorial Guinea: An African Tragedy'', pp. 59–60. Peter Lang, New York. {{ISBN|0-8204-0977-4}}</ref>

A decision of 9 August 1963, approved by a referendum of 15 December 1963, gave the territory a measure of autonomy and the administrative promotion of a 'moderate' group, the {{Interlanguage link|Movimiento de Unión Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial|es}} (MUNGE). This was unsuccessful, and, with growing pressure for change from the UN, Madrid was gradually forced to give way to the currents of nationalism. Two General Assembly resolutions were passed in 1965 ordering Spain to grant independence to the colony, and in 1966, a UN Commission toured the country before recommending the same thing. In response, the Spanish declared that they would hold a constitutional convention on 27 October 1967 to negotiate a new constitution for an independent Equatorial Guinea. The conference was attended by 41 local delegates and 25 Spaniards. The Africans were principally divided between Fernandinos and Bubi on one side, who feared a loss of privileges and 'swamping' by the Fang majority, and the Río Muni Fang nationalists on the other. At the conference, the leading Fang figure, the later first president [[Francisco Macías Nguema]], gave a controversial speech in which he claimed that [[Adolf Hitler]] had "saved Africa".<ref>Fegley, Randall (1989). ''Equatorial Guinea: An African Tragedy'', p. 51–52. Peter Lang, New York. {{ISBN|0-8204-0977-4}}</ref> After nine sessions, the conference was suspended due to deadlock between the "unionists" and "separatists" who wanted a separate Fernando Pó. Macías resolved to travel to the UN to bolster international awareness of the issue, and his firebrand speeches in New York contributed to Spain naming a date for both independence and general elections. In July 1968 virtually all Bubi leaders went to the UN in New York to try and raise awareness for their cause, but the world community was uninterested in quibbling over the specifics of colonial independence. The 1960s were a time of great optimism over the future of the former African colonies, and groups that had been close to European rulers, like the Bubi, were not viewed positively.<ref>Fegley, Randall (1989). ''Equatorial Guinea: An African Tragedy'', p. 55. Peter Lang, New York. {{ISBN|0-8204-0977-4}}</ref>

=== Independence under Macías (1968–1979) ===
[[File:Don Francisco Macias.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Francisco Macías Nguema]], first [[president of Equatorial Guinea]] in 1968, became a dictator until he was overthrown in a coup d'état in 1979.]]
Independence from Spain was gained on 12 October 1968, at noon in the capital, Malabo. The new country became the Republic of Equatorial Guinea (the date is celebrated as the country's [[List of national independence days|Independence Day]]<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.guineaecuatorialpress.com/noticia.php?id=16378 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022184931/https://www.guineaecuatorialpress.com/noticia.php?id=16378 |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 October 2020 |title=Congratulations marking Independence Day continue to arrive |date=10 September 2020 |publisher=Equatorial Guinea Press and Information Office |access-date=10 September 2020 }}</ref>). Macías became president in the country's [[1968 Spanish Guinean general election|only free and fair election to date]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Campos, Alicia|title=The decolonization of Equatorial Guinea: the relevance of the international factor|journal=Journal of African History|year=2003|pages=95–116|volume=44|issue=1|url=http://www.egjustice.org/publications/decolonization-equatorial-guinea-relevance-international-factor|doi=10.1017/s0021853702008319|hdl=10486/690991|s2cid=143108720|hdl-access=free|access-date=3 February 2014|archive-date=20 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820182226/http://www.egjustice.org/publications/decolonization-equatorial-guinea-relevance-international-factor}}</ref> The Spanish (ruled by [[Francisco Franco|Franco]]) had backed Macías in the election; much of his campaigning involved visiting rural areas of Río Muni and promising that they would have the houses and wives of the Spanish if they voted for him.{{cn|date=March 2025}} He had won in the second round of voting.

During the [[Nigerian Civil War]], Fernando Pó was inhabited by many Biafra-supporting Ibo migrant workers and many refugees from the breakaway state fled to the island. The [[International Committee of the Red Cross]] began running relief flights out of Equatorial Guinea, but Macías quickly shut the flights down, refusing to allow them to fly diesel fuel for their trucks nor oxygen tanks for medical operations. The Biafran separatists were starved into submission without international backing.<ref>Fegley, Randall (1989). ''Equatorial Guinea: An African Tragedy'', p. 60. Peter Lang, New York. {{ISBN|0-8204-0977-4}}</ref>

After the Public Prosecutor complained about "excesses and maltreatment" by government officials, Macías had 150 alleged coup-plotters executed in a purge on Christmas Eve 1969, all of whom were political opponents.<ref name=tufts>{{cite web|title=Equatorial Guinea – Mass Atrocity Endings|work=Tufts University|date=7 August 2015|url=https://sites.tufts.edu/atrocityendings/2015/08/07/equatorial-guinea/#_edn27|access-date=12 November 2018|archive-date=10 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180910163306/https://sites.tufts.edu/atrocityendings/2015/08/07/equatorial-guinea/#_edn27|url-status=live}}</ref> Macias Nguema further consolidated his [[Totalitarianism|totalitarian powers]] by [[One-party state|outlawing opposition political parties]] in July 1970 and making himself [[president for life]] in 1972.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.egjustice.org/post/equatorial-guinea|title=Equatorial Guinea – EG Justice|website=www.egjustice.org|access-date=17 April 2019|archive-date=17 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417075119/http://www.egjustice.org/post/equatorial-guinea}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/08/07/equatorial-guineas-president-said-to-be-retired-not-ousted/b21f82be-7401-4b7c-b6ea-1774dc0639e5/|title=Equatorial Guinea's President Said to Be Retired, Not Ousted|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=17 December 2019|archive-date=25 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225105319/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/08/07/equatorial-guineas-president-said-to-be-retired-not-ousted/b21f82be-7401-4b7c-b6ea-1774dc0639e5/|url-status=live}}</ref> He broke off ties with Spain and the West. In spite of his condemnation of [[Marxism]], which he deemed "[[Neo-colonialism|neo-colonialist]]", Equatorial Guinea maintained special relations with [[communist state]]s, notably China, Cuba, [[East Germany]] and the [[USSR]]. Macias Nguema signed a preferential [[trade agreement]] and a shipping treaty with the Soviet Union. The Soviets also made loans to Equatorial Guinea.<ref name="aworawo103">{{cite journal|last=Aworawo|first=David|title=Decisive Thaw: The Changing Pattern of Relations between Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea, 1980–2005|journal=Journal of International and Global Studies|volume=1|issue=2|page=103|url=http://www.lindenwood.edu/jigs/docs/volume1Issue2/essays/89-109.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124030353/http://www.lindenwood.edu/jigs/docs/volume1Issue2/essays/89-109.pdf|archive-date=24 January 2013}}</ref> The shipping agreement gave the Soviets permission for a pilot [[fishery]] development project and also a naval base at [[Luba, Equatorial Guinea|Luba]]. In return, the USSR was to supply fish to Equatorial Guinea. China and Cuba also gave different forms of financial, military, and technical assistance to Equatorial Guinea, which got them a measure of influence there. For the USSR, there was an advantage to be gained in the [[Angola Civil War|war in Angola]] from access to Luba base and later on to [[Malabo International Airport]].<ref name="aworawo103" />

In 1974, the [[World Council of Churches]] affirmed that large numbers of people had been murdered since 1968 in an ongoing [[revolutionary terror|reign of terror]]. A quarter of the entire population had fled abroad, they said, while 'the prisons are overflowing and to all intents and purposes form one vast concentration camp'. Out of a population of 300,000, an estimated 80,000 were killed.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2530772.ece|title=Coup plotter faces life in Africa's most notorious jail|publisher=News.independent.co.uk|date=11 May 2007|access-date=3 May 2010|location=London|first=Kim|last=Sengupta|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071229043459/http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2530772.ece|archive-date=29 December 2007}}</ref> Apart from allegedly committing [[genocide]] against the ethnic minority [[Bubi people]], Macias Nguema ordered the deaths of thousands of suspected opponents, closed down churches and presided over the economy's collapse as skilled citizens and foreigners fled the country.<ref>{{cite news|last=Daniels|first=Anthony|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3610187/If-you-think-this-ones-bad-you-should-have-seen-his-uncle.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3610187/If-you-think-this-ones-bad-you-should-have-seen-his-uncle.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=If you think this one's bad you should have seen his uncle|publisher=The Telegraph|date=29 August 2004|access-date=22 May 2014|location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

=== Obiang (1979–present) ===
[[File:Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo with Obamas 2014.jpg|thumb|Obiang and U.S. president [[Barack Obama|Obama]] with their wives in 2014]]
The nephew of Macías Nguema, [[Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo|Teodoro Obiang]] deposed his uncle on 3 August 1979, in a bloody ''[[1979 Equatorial Guinea coup d'état|coup d'état]]''; over two weeks of civil war ensued until Macías Nguema was captured. He was tried and executed soon afterward, with Obiang succeeding him as a less bloody, but still authoritarian president.<ref>"[https://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2012/02/09/the-five-worst-leaders-in-africa/ The Five Worst Leaders In Africa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816201630/https://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2012/02/09/the-five-worst-leaders-in-africa/ |date=16 August 2017 }}". ''[[Forbes]]''. 9 February 2012.</ref>

In 1995, [[Mobil]], an American oil company, discovered oil in Equatorial Guinea. The country subsequently experienced rapid economic development, but earnings from the country's oil wealth have not reached the population and the country ranks low on the UN human development index. 7.9% of children die before the age of 5, and more than 50% of the population lacks access to clean [[drinking water]].<ref name="Equatorial Guinea profile" /> Obiang is widely suspected of using the country's oil wealth to enrich himself<ref name=global>{{cite web|title=DC Meeting Set with President Obiang as Corruption Details Emerge|work=Global Witness|date=15 June 2012|url=http://www.globalwitness.org/library/dc-meeting-set-president-obiang-corruption-details-emerge|access-date=18 July 2014|archive-date=3 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403050646/http://www.globalwitness.org/library/dc-meeting-set-president-obiang-corruption-details-emerge|url-status=live}}</ref> and his associates. In 2006, ''Forbes'' estimated his personal wealth at $600 million.<ref>Forbes (5 March 2006)
[https://www.forbes.com/2006/05/03/cz_forbes_0522_royals_slide_8.html Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President/Equatorial Guinea] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029180012/https://www.forbes.com/2006/05/03/cz_forbes_0522_royals_slide_8.html |date=29 October 2017 }}</ref>

In 2011, the government announced it was planning a new capital for the country, named [[Ciudad de la Paz|Oyala]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120112084455/http://www.africa21digital.com/noticia.kmf?cod=12634524&canal=404 Empresas portuguesas planeiam nova capital da Guiné Equatorial]. africa21digital.com (5 November 2011).</ref><ref>[http://www.boasnoticias.pt/noticias_Atelier-luso-desenha-futura-capital-da-Guin%C3%A9-Equatorial_8697.html Atelier luso desenha futura capital da Guiné Equatorial] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015221744/http://www.boasnoticias.pt/noticias_Atelier-luso-desenha-futura-capital-da-Guin%C3%A9-Equatorial_8697.html |date=15 October 2015 }}. Boasnoticias.pt (5 November 2011). Retrieved on 5 May 2013.</ref><ref>[http://www.piniweb.com.br/construcao/urbanismo/arquitetos-portugueses-projetam-nova-capital-para-guine-equatorial-240902-1.asp Arquitetos portugueses projetam nova capital para Guiné Equatorial] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510212439/http://www.piniweb.com.br/construcao/urbanismo/arquitetos-portugueses-projetam-nova-capital-para-guine-equatorial-240902-1.asp |date=10 May 2013 }}. Piniweb.com.br. Retrieved on 5 May 2013.</ref><ref>[http://www.greensavers.pt/2011/11/04/atelie-portugues-desenha-futura-capital-da-guine-equatorial/ Ateliê português desenha futura capital da Guiné Equatorial] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120122153733/http://www.greensavers.pt/2011/11/04/atelie-portugues-desenha-futura-capital-da-guine-equatorial/ |date=22 January 2012 }}. Greensavers.pt (14 December 2011). Retrieved on 5 May 2013.</ref> The city was renamed [[Ciudad de la Paz]] ("City of Peace") in 2017.

{{as of|2016|February|}}, Obiang was Africa's second-longest serving dictator after [[Cameroon]]'s [[Paul Biya]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/11/equatorial-guinea-human-rights-africa-dictatorship-tutu-alicante|title=Equatorial Guinea: One man's fight against dictatorship|last=Simon|first=Allison|date=11 July 2014|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=9 May 2017|archive-date=5 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305010320/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/11/equatorial-guinea-human-rights-africa-dictatorship-tutu-alicante|url-status=live}}</ref> Equatorial Guinea was elected as a non-permanent member of the [[United Nations Security Council]] 2018–2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/international-news-general-news-f44f66bb37c44cd7811f8230532b0bec|title=Equatorial Guinea wins UN Security Council seat despite rights groups' concerns|first=Edith M.|last=Lederer|work=[[Associated Press]]|date=2 June 2017|access-date=16 January 2024|archive-date=16 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116230607/https://apnews.com/international-news-general-news-f44f66bb37c44cd7811f8230532b0bec|url-status=live}}</ref> On 7 March 2021, there were [[2021 Bata explosions|munition explosions]] at a military base near the city of [[Bata, Equatorial Guinea|Bata]], causing 98 deaths and 600 people being injured and treated at the hospital.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bariyo |first=Nicholas |date=8 March 2021 |title=Equatorial Guinea Takes Stock After Giant Explosions |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/equatorial-guinea-takes-stock-after-giant-explosions-11615221995 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308205756/https://www.wsj.com/articles/equatorial-guinea-takes-stock-after-giant-explosions-11615221995 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |access-date=9 March 2021 |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660}}</ref> In November 2022, Obiang was re-elected in the [[2022 Equatorial Guinean general election]] with 99.7% of the vote amid accusations of fraud by the opposition.<ref>[https://elpais.com/internacional/2022-11-21/obiang-obtiene-el-997-de-los-votos-en-las-elecciones-de-guinea-ecuatorial-entre-denuncias-de-fraude-masivo.html Obiang obtiene el 99,7% de los votos en las elecciones de Guinea Ecuatorial entre denuncias de fraude masivo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130110000/https://elpais.com/internacional/2022-11-21/obiang-obtiene-el-997-de-los-votos-en-las-elecciones-de-guinea-ecuatorial-entre-denuncias-de-fraude-masivo.html |date=30 November 2022 }} El País (21 November 2022)</ref><ref>[https://www.heraldo.es/noticias/internacional/2022/11/21/primeros-resultados-obiang-votos-guinea-ecuatorial-1613752.html Primeros resultados dan a Obiang casi el 100 % de votos en Guinea Ecuatorial] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122063001/https://www.heraldo.es/noticias/internacional/2022/11/21/primeros-resultados-obiang-votos-guinea-ecuatorial-1613752.html |date=22 November 2022 }} Heraldo (21 November 2022)</ref>