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Interview With Donato Ndongo This face-to-face discussion took place in June of 2002 and has been revised and updated since then through written (mostly electronic) correspondence . Donato Ndongo was at that time Director of The Center of African Studies at the University of Murcia. In the fall of 2003 this center was closed due to economic exigencies. However, Ndongo feels there were poltical considerations as well. What follows is a transcription and translation from Spanish of a July 2002 conversation followed by an addendum which is the result of a follow-up visit I had with Ndongo in June of 2004 in which I asked him to clarify some of the comments he made in the earlier conversation . Michael Ugarte University of Missouri, Columbia Politics and History of Equatorial Guinea Michael Ugarte (MU): The history of Equatorial Guinea (EG) might serve as a model for the social, political, and cultural patterns of African post-colonialism, particulatly the severe problems that arise after independence . However, EG is also an exception among African countries. Could you tell us what you feel are both the typical and atypical aspects of your country's historical development? Donato Ndongo (DN): On the one hand EG is an atypical country within the context of Africa because it Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies Volume 8, 2004 218 Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies was colonized by Spain. It is the only Spanish colony south of the Sahara. This gives it a certain singularity. The Spanish language was the official language of EG until two years ago when the President tried to proclaim French as the official language. This decree has had no practical consequence, since Guineans continue to speak Spanish . Education continues to be conducted in Spanish, the little education there is. The governmenr continues to conduct its affairs in Spanish. The language used for communication among people of different ethnic groups continues to be Spanish. Thus, this linguistic and cultural feature is what makes EG different from its Francophone, Lusophone, and Anglophone neighbors. "Despite independence in 1968 we have never experienced a democratic regime. We have never known peace, well being, or economic development." On the other hand, the most outstanding feature of the history of EG is something common to other African countries. Despite independence in 1968 we have never experienced a democratic regime. We have never known peace, well being, or economic development. EG became one of the poorest countries in the world when Francisco Macias took powet. He destroyed everything the country had, the little left to us by Spanish colonialism. While colonial powet was intrinsically perverse, it left some exploited resources such as cocoa, arguably the highest quality cocoa in the world. EG produced 40,000 rons of cocoa in the year of independence [1968]. That figure fell to three or four thousand eleven years later. Similarly, in 1968, EG produced 300,000 cubic meters of lumber, bur in the Macias regime lumber was hardly produced at all. The same goes for coffee, some eight thousand tons in 1968, and in 1979 coffee production virtually disappeared. We became one of the poorest countries in the world. We thought that was going to change with Teodoro Obiang's coup of 1979, but we soon realized this would not be the case-it was another dictatorship. While today EG is no longer one of the poorest countries in the world due to the production of petroleum—some 250,000 barrels a day and rising, according to United Nations, World Bank (WB), and International Monetary Fund (IMF)—ninety-five percent of the population receives no benefits from this resource. The profits are enjoyed by the five percent which is made up of the president and those in his circles, most of them Obiang family members. The rest of the population lives in abject poverty. Keep in mind that richness and poverty are not abstract concepts. Malabo, for example, is, from what I understand, the only capital in the world with major deficiencies in Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies 219 electricity; there is little or no interior plumbing. The environmental hazards are numerous , for example fecal waters run through the streets. I...

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