Interview Tutu Alicante

Last year, Teodoro Obiang won a 6th term in office with 97% of the vote. He has been in power since 1979, for 43 years. In Obiang’s Equatorial Guinea, there are no independent, critical media, no human rights or anti-corruption organizations, and the one opposition party is seen as being a fig leaf for the dictatorship. 

It is difficult to fully grasp the control the government has over society without examining the role of the oil industry. Equatorial Guinea is one of the largest oil producing countries in Africa; the black gold makes up 90% of its exports and gives it an average income similar to that of Brazil or Serbia. And yet, its infant mortality rate is closer to that of Liberia and Mali, much poorer countries. 26% of children do not get the nutrition they need. 

To discuss the situation in EG and the potential for change, we are joined by Tutu Alicante, the executive director of EG Justice. He has lived in exile since the age of 19, based now in the United States. His organization fights for democracy and against the human rights abuses of the Obiang regime.