6 ms·

Nice story. To this day many Spaniards are unaware that Ecuatorial Guinea is a former colony. My memories from High school are that we glanced over it.

enriquto 6y ago
It is still de facto a colony, conveniently ruled by a spanish-supported dictator.
- Uberphallus 6y ago
  He was originally supported in the coup because his uncle (the then dictator) was exterminating Spaniards (and Guineans as well). Since then, trade between Spain and EG is nothing to write home about, with Spain only being third to US and China as trading partners, and EQ's exports are a drop in the ocean of the Spanish economy. Investment from either country in the other is residual (<10 million euros). [0] Also Obiang regularly blames Spain for funding/supporting oppositors, notably during the coup attempt in 2004[1], which is probably true[2]. Most of the time these oppositors also have Spanish citizenship. So, in what sense is he supported by Spain, and how is it a colony? [0] https://www.icex.es/icex/es/navegacion-principal/todos-nuestros-servicios/informacion-de-mercados/paises/navegacion-principal/el-pais/relaciones-bilaterales/index.html?idPais=GQ https://www.icex.es/icex/es/navegacion-principal/todos-nuest... [1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jun/16/equatorialguinea.spain https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jun/16/equatorialguin... [2] https://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2008/03/12/espana/1205318523.html https://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2008/03/12/espana/1205318523....
- fcatalan 6y ago
  Ummm no. In fact the relationship between Spain and Guinea is surprisingly tenous considering the colonial past. Guinea hardly makes it to the news and it isn't in the "national conscience" at all. The average educated spaniard would have to be reminded of the whole story. Diplomatic relations are somewhat cordial, probably protecting some remaining economical interests, but a bit at "an arms length", as with other dictatorships. Opposition politicians routinely seek refuge or meet in Spain without any trouble. If anything they decry the "hands off" stance of Spain, hardly the same as a "de facto colony" situation.
  - overkalix 6y ago
    Curious username...
  - enriquto 6y ago
    > Opposition politicians routinely seek refuge or meet in Spain without any trouble. If anything they decry the "hands off" stance of Spain, hardly the same as a "de facto colony" situation. And care to hear what do they have to say? There's hardly any journalists willing to interview them. Mostly Xavier Montanyà that I know of. When asked "what could Spain do more for Guinea?" they invariably answer "to begin with, they should do less, offering less support to the current dictatorship". If you want a somewhat mainstream source that talks about this situation (which is rare), look here: https://elcultural.com/espana-en-guinea-ecuatorial-del-expolio-al-olvido https://elcultural.com/espana-en-guinea-ecuatorial-del-expol... Basically, the support goes in the form of Spanish politicians of all parties receiving "prizes" from the Guinean dictatorship with the tacit implication of leaving them alone.
    - mcosta 6y ago
      So Spain should mess with its old colonies or not?
    - eyko 6y ago
      My late grandmother worked with Atanasio Mdongo as part of his inner circle before his assassination, and later had to work for Macías Nguema. She was Bubi, working for a dictator that was carrying out a Bubi genocide. My mother escaped death a few times and eventually was smuggled out of the country to Spain. From what I know, journalists were indeed interested (in the 80s and 90s) but trauma and fear of repercussions meant few if any were willing to publicly share the kinds of stories they'll share on the dinner table. You also have to understand that most Bubi people in Spain are surrounded by Fang relatives and there's usually, even today, animosity towards each other. The diaspora basically hate each other and there are wounds that never healed. Our most recent family table-top arguments on this "taboo" topic was triggered by the recent movie "Palm Trees in the Snow". I do think that these stories will eventually be written by people from my generation (born in the diaspora).
Mediterraneo10 6y ago
The rest of the Spanish-speaking world is unaware, too. I am foreigner who learned Spanish of Spain, and when traveling in Latin America the locals have often made fun of me for using the vosotros form of verbs. "There are umpteen Spanish-speaking countries, and only one says vosotros," they'd say. "Not true!" I would try to defend myself. "They use vosotros in Western Sahara and Equatorial Guinea, too!" (On my first visit to WS in the early millennium I met many older Saharawis who spoke excellent Spanish as if they had grown up in mainland Spain, though now that demographic must be elderly or already passed away.)
- iagovar 6y ago
  My guess is that because E. Guinea wasn't given much attention until very late in the colonial Spain, it didn't really leave much footprint in the spanish society. Anyway, there are some documentaries about it in the Internet (in Spanish), also from La 1. IIRC they had some ecuatorial guineans in the comment sections with interesting insight. I also follow https://twitter.com/ccemalabo/ https://twitter.com/ccemalabo/ so it appears in my feed from time to time, and refreshes my curiosity.
- stevenjohns 6y ago
  They use vosotros in Colombia as well, specifically in Medellín and a couple of other places in the "coffee axis," i.e as far out as Manizales.
  - Mediterraneo10 6y ago
    Do you have some kind of citation to back that up? The only information I can find says that Colombia uses vos (like several other regions in Latin America) and not vosotros.
  - rigoleto 6y ago
    Vos, not vosotros

enriquto 6y ago

It is still de facto a colony, conveniently ruled by a spanish-supported dictator.

Uberphallus 6y ago
He was originally supported in the coup because his uncle (the then dictator) was exterminating Spaniards (and Guineans as well). Since then, trade between Spain and EG is nothing to write home about, with Spain only being third to US and China as trading partners, and EQ's exports are a drop in the ocean of the Spanish economy. Investment from either country in the other is residual (<10 million euros). [0] Also Obiang regularly blames Spain for funding/supporting oppositors, notably during the coup attempt in 2004[1], which is probably true[2]. Most of the time these oppositors also have Spanish citizenship. So, in what sense is he supported by Spain, and how is it a colony? [0] https://www.icex.es/icex/es/navegacion-principal/todos-nuestros-servicios/informacion-de-mercados/paises/navegacion-principal/el-pais/relaciones-bilaterales/index.html?idPais=GQ https://www.icex.es/icex/es/navegacion-principal/todos-nuest... [1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jun/16/equatorialguinea.spain https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jun/16/equatorialguin... [2] https://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2008/03/12/espana/1205318523.html https://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2008/03/12/espana/1205318523....
fcatalan 6y ago
Ummm no. In fact the relationship between Spain and Guinea is surprisingly tenous considering the colonial past. Guinea hardly makes it to the news and it isn't in the "national conscience" at all. The average educated spaniard would have to be reminded of the whole story. Diplomatic relations are somewhat cordial, probably protecting some remaining economical interests, but a bit at "an arms length", as with other dictatorships. Opposition politicians routinely seek refuge or meet in Spain without any trouble. If anything they decry the "hands off" stance of Spain, hardly the same as a "de facto colony" situation.
- overkalix 6y ago
  Curious username...
- enriquto 6y ago
  > Opposition politicians routinely seek refuge or meet in Spain without any trouble. If anything they decry the "hands off" stance of Spain, hardly the same as a "de facto colony" situation. And care to hear what do they have to say? There's hardly any journalists willing to interview them. Mostly Xavier Montanyà that I know of. When asked "what could Spain do more for Guinea?" they invariably answer "to begin with, they should do less, offering less support to the current dictatorship". If you want a somewhat mainstream source that talks about this situation (which is rare), look here: https://elcultural.com/espana-en-guinea-ecuatorial-del-expolio-al-olvido https://elcultural.com/espana-en-guinea-ecuatorial-del-expol... Basically, the support goes in the form of Spanish politicians of all parties receiving "prizes" from the Guinean dictatorship with the tacit implication of leaving them alone.
  - mcosta 6y ago
    So Spain should mess with its old colonies or not?
  - eyko 6y ago
    My late grandmother worked with Atanasio Mdongo as part of his inner circle before his assassination, and later had to work for Macías Nguema. She was Bubi, working for a dictator that was carrying out a Bubi genocide. My mother escaped death a few times and eventually was smuggled out of the country to Spain. From what I know, journalists were indeed interested (in the 80s and 90s) but trauma and fear of repercussions meant few if any were willing to publicly share the kinds of stories they'll share on the dinner table. You also have to understand that most Bubi people in Spain are surrounded by Fang relatives and there's usually, even today, animosity towards each other. The diaspora basically hate each other and there are wounds that never healed. Our most recent family table-top arguments on this "taboo" topic was triggered by the recent movie "Palm Trees in the Snow". I do think that these stories will eventually be written by people from my generation (born in the diaspora).

Mediterraneo10 6y ago

The rest of the Spanish-speaking world is unaware, too. I am foreigner who learned Spanish of Spain, and when traveling in Latin America the locals have often made fun of me for using the vosotros form of verbs. "There are umpteen Spanish-speaking countries, and only one says vosotros," they'd say. "Not true!" I would try to defend myself. "They use vosotros in Western Sahara and Equatorial Guinea, too!" (On my first visit to WS in the early millennium I met many older Saharawis who spoke excellent Spanish as if they had grown up in mainland Spain, though now that demographic must be elderly or already passed away.)

iagovar 6y ago
My guess is that because E. Guinea wasn't given much attention until very late in the colonial Spain, it didn't really leave much footprint in the spanish society. Anyway, there are some documentaries about it in the Internet (in Spanish), also from La 1. IIRC they had some ecuatorial guineans in the comment sections with interesting insight. I also follow https://twitter.com/ccemalabo/ https://twitter.com/ccemalabo/ so it appears in my feed from time to time, and refreshes my curiosity.
stevenjohns 6y ago
They use vosotros in Colombia as well, specifically in Medellín and a couple of other places in the "coffee axis," i.e as far out as Manizales.
- Mediterraneo10 6y ago
  Do you have some kind of citation to back that up? The only information I can find says that Colombia uses vos (like several other regions in Latin America) and not vosotros.
- rigoleto 6y ago
  Vos, not vosotros