Q & AAfrica

Why Equatorial Guinea’s ‘National Dialogue’ Is Really a Monologue

Why Equatorial Guinea’s ‘National Dialogue’ Is Really a Monologue
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the president of Equatorial Guinea, addresses the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, New York, Sept. 21, 2017 (AP photo by Frank Franklin II).

On Monday, Equatorial Guinea opened a five-day National Dialogue that was first announced in June by longtime President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Earlier this month, Obiang also promised a total amnesty for jailed political prisoners and opposition figures who have been banned from politics, although one recently banned party, Citizens for Innovation, declared that he did not follow through. In an email interview, Mark Blaisse, a freelance journalist and expert on Equatorial Guinea, discusses Obiang’s motives in declaring the amnesty and calling for the dialogue, and the prospects for it leading to meaningful change. World Politics Review: The current National […]

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