Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa, with an area of 28,000 square kilometres (11,000 sq mi). Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name evokes its location near both the Equator and the Gulf of Guinea. As of 2021[update][update] the country had a population of 1,468,777.
The politics of Equatorial Guinea take place in a framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President is both the head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Chamber of People's Representatives
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo is an Equatoguinean politician and former military officer who has served as the 2nd president of Equatorial Guinea since August 1979. He is the second longest consecutively serving current non-royal national leader in the world, after Cameroon's Paul Biya.
Francisco Macías Nguema, often just called Macías, was an Equatoguinean politician who served as the first President of Equatorial Guinea from the country's independence in 1968 until his overthrow in 1979. He is widely remembered as one of the most brutal dictators in history.
Convergence for Social Democracy is the only opposition party in Equatorial Guinea with parliamentary representation.
Simon Francis Mann is a British mercenary and former officer in the SAS. He trained to be an officer at Sandhurst and was commissioned into the Scots Guards. He later became a member of the SAS. On leaving the military, he co-founded the private military company, Executive Outcomes in 1993, and then co-founded Sandline International with fellow ex-Scots Guards Colonel Tim Spicer in 1996. Sandline operated mostly in Angola and Sierra Leone, but a contract with the government of Papua New Guinea attracted a significant amount of negative publicity in what became known as the Sandline affair.
Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue is the Vice President of Equatorial Guinea, in office since 2012. He is a son of Teodoro Obiang, the authoritarian leader of Equatorial Guinea, by his first wife, Constancia Mangue. He has been appointed to numerous government position by his father's regime, including Minister of Agriculture and Forestry and "Second Vice-President", in charge of defense and security, in May 2012. He was promoted to the position of First Vice-President in June, 2016.
The Independence Intifada or the Second Sahrawi Intifada and also May Intifada is a Sahrawi activist term for a series of disturbances, demonstrations and riots that broke out in May 2005 in the Moroccan-controlled parts of Western Sahara and south of Morocco. This event has also been called The El-Aaiun Intifada by the same sources.
Severo Matías Moto Nsá, known as Severo Moto, is the most notable opposition politician in Equatorial Guinea, and leader of the Progress Party of Equatorial Guinea. He lives in Spain where he has established a government in exile, to the annoyance of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema.
The 2004 Equatorial Guinea coup d'état attempt, also known as the Wonga Coup, failed to replace President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo with exiled opposition politician Severo Moto. Mercenaries organised by mainly British financiers were arrested in Zimbabwe on 7 March 2004 before they could carry out the plot. Prosecutors alleged that Moto was to be installed as the new president in return for preferential oil rights to corporations affiliated to those involved in the coup. The incident received international media attention after the reported involvement of Sir Mark Thatcher in funding the coup, for which he was convicted and fined in South Africa.
Presidential elections were held in Equatorial Guinea on 15 December 2002. Incumbent President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo easily won another term amidst an opposition boycott.
Cruz Obiang Ebele is an Equatoguinean political activist currently imprisoned on weapons possession charges. His imprisonment drew protest from the US State Department and Amnesty International, the latter of which designated him a prisoner of conscience.
Emiliano Esono Michá is an Equatoguinean political activist currently imprisoned on weapons possession charges. His imprisonment drew protest from the US State Department and Amnesty International, the latter of which named him a prisoner of conscience.
Gumersindo Ramírez Faustino is an Equatoguinean political activist currently imprisoned on weapons possession charges. His imprisonment has drawn protest from the US State Department and Amnesty International, the latter of which considers him to be a prisoner of conscience.
Juan Ecomo Ndong is an Equatoguinean political activist currently imprisoned on weapons possession charges. His imprisonment has drawn protest from the US State Department and Amnesty International, the latter of which considers him to be a prisoner of conscience.
Gerardo Angüe Mangue is an Equatoguinean political activist currently imprisoned on weapons possession charges. His imprisonment has drawn protest from the US State Department and Amnesty International, the latter of which considers him to be a prisoner of conscience.
Fabián Nsue Nguema is the most prominent human-rights lawyer in Equatorial Guinea which, under Teodoro Obiang, has been referred to as one of the most repressive regimes in Africa. He is a member of Equatorial Guinea's only legal opposition party, Unión Popular (UP), which frequently denounces human rights violations, and of which he has served as secretary-general. He has defended a number of political prisoners in trials.
Political corruption in Equatorial Guinea is high by world standards and considered among the worst of any country on earth. It has been described as "an almost perfect kleptocracy" in which the scale of systemic corruption and the rulers' indifference towards the people's welfare place it at the bottom of every major governance indicator or ranking, below nations with similar per capita GDPs.
Regina Mañe Ela was an Equatorial Guinean politician and opposition campaigner.
