Equatorial
Guinea's
Desire to Join Luso Portuguese Group Stalled by Angola,
Luxophony
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 6 -- Equatorial Guinea wants to join the Community
of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), its Ambassador
to the UN
Anatolio Ndong Mba told Inner City Press on September 1.
In
fact,
Equatorial Guinea had previously predicted it would be accepted as a
full member of the CPLP, or Lusophonie, by 2010. But now in the chair
of the group is Angola, and sources tell Inner City Press this has
hurt rather than helped Equatorial Guinea's chances, as least for the
next two years.
Equatorial
Guinea's
human rights record has been in the spotlight this year, as
NGOs have very publicly opposed the country's attempt to get a UNESCO
prized named after its president, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue.
As
Inner City Press reported in February of this year, and last
week,
the president's son Teodorin has been documented to have spirited
some $100 million out of the country, through Citigroup and Bank of
America.
Angola
has no
interest in the same NGOs turning their attention to the CPLP during
its two years in the chair.
UN DSG Migiro with E.Guineans, Mba at right,
Luxophones not shown
Therefore
Equatorial Guinea may have to
wait at least two years to join the group, whose eight full members
for now are Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique,
Portugal, Sao Tomé and Príncipe and Timor Leste.
In
the interim, the
country has a “secretariat” to reach with Portuguese matters. A
journalist who sought to speak with the secretariat tells Inner City
Press that its direct does not speak Portuguese, but instead
responded with documents which contained the mis-spelling
“Luxophonie” -- that is, luxury. And so it goes in Equatorial
Guinea.
*
* *
At
UN,
Equatorial Guinea President's Son's $ 100 Million Wired Into USA is
“Just
Business,” Pro Moroccan, Pro Kosovo
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 1 -- With Equatorial Guinea under scrutiny for
executions and locking up reporters, it's Permanent Representative to
the UN Anatolio Ndong Mba spoke to the Press on Wednesday.
Inner City
Press, which covered
the Equato-guinean response to the US Senate's
report on corrupt finance six months ago, asked Anatolio Ndong Mba
where the son of President Teodoro
Nguema
Obiang
Mangue
got the $100 million he transferred into
the US. Video here,
from Minute 26:03.
Anatolio
Ndong
Mba replied that the president's son Teodorin is “free to do his
business.” But Inner City Press asked, what is his business? Video here,
from
Minute 30:04.
“He could make
buildings, he could rent houses,” Anatolio Ndong Mba said. But the
president's son has a $30 million mansion in Malibu and a recording
studio.
Anatolio
Ndong
Mba argued that with so much money coming into the country from oil
companies, with so much “development,” money could not be
diverted. “Morocco invests,” he said, giving an example.
Beyond
the
executions, what about crack downs on the media, Inner City Press
asked, including the imprisonment of Rodrigo Nguema, the only foreign
correspondent
in Malabo? Video here,
from Minute 33:44.
To this was
was no answer
except that the country aimed to improve. Anatolio Ndong Mba
mentioned the Emirates, saying that in other counties, no on asks
where money comes from.
UN's Ban and Anatolio Ndong
Mba, $100 million not shown
After
the press
conference, after the applause of the mission's ringers, Inner City
Press asked Anatolio Ndong Mba if his country for example supported
a referendum in Western Sahara with independence as an option. No,
Anatolio Ndong Mba said.
What
about Kosovo,
Inner City Press asked. Anatolio Ndong Mba said Equatorial Guinea's
foreign policy favors Kosovar independence. Both positions are
America's. But a staffer of Anatolio Ndong Mba explained that it
comes down to relations with Morocco. Consistency be damned. Watch
this site.
, 
