- A new commercial agreement between the government of Equatorial Guinea and its former colonial power, Spain, is set to revitalise the relations between the two countries. Spain thus has reviewed its distance to the Equatoguinean regime, based on the regime's systematic human rights violations.
The agreement was produced during the official visit of Spain's Foreign Minister, Ana Palacio, in Equatorial Guinea this weekend, and includes juridical government guarantees for Spanish companies settling in the ex-colony. With this visit, diplomatic sources maintain, "a new era" in the so far tense relations between Madrid and Malabo is set to begin.
The official visit to Malabo by Minister Palacio was celebrated as a great event by the Equatoguinean government, and both parties publicly confirmed this would mark a revitalisation of bilateral ties. Ms Palacio yesterday, when leaving Equatorial Guinea, spoke of "the necessity of maintaining a dialogue on all levels."
One of the official acts already planned before the arrival of Ms Palacio was the signing of the Agreement of Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments (APRI) together with her Equatoguinean counterpart, Pastor Michá. Given this treaty with its juridical guarantees, it is expected that Spanish investments in the country will be given an important impulse.
During her stay in Malabo, Ms Palacio also had met with Prime Minister Cándido Muatetema Rivas, other leaders of Equatoguinean political parties, including the opposition, and finally with President Teodoro Obiang Nguema. According to Ms Palacio, President Obiang had expressed the wish to receive Spanish Prime Minister José Maria Aznar in his country, before the latter steps down next year.
The Spanish Foreign Minister also gave President Obiang her support to what she and her government described as a "democratisation process" in Equatorial Guinea, in addition to an observed "political penning." These observations had been a key factor in the Spanish government's decision to revitalise its ties with the ex-colony.
The Madrid-based Association of Democratic Solidarity with Equatorial Guinea (ASODEGUE) however does not agree with the Spanish government's observation. According to ASODEGUE, one cannot speak about any "political opening" yet in Equatorial Guinea.
- We lament having to disagree with Ms Palacio, ASODEGUE says in a statement today, "but having closely followed developments in Equatorial Guinea for years, we have yet to register any one political process that is noting significant process." The group repeatedly has denounced the lack of democratisation in Equatorial Guinea during the last year.
According to the ASODEGUE statement, "the elections in Equatorial Guinea ended in fraud, the political and economic control of the Obiang family is growing, human rights are systematically violated - there is torture, journalists are detained, people are abducted, there are political prisoners - corruption is increasing and this stems from the highest levelled hierarchies of the country."
Minister Ana Palacio however also received some critical impulses during her stay in Malabo as she met with Plácido Micó, the leader of the country's only independent opposition party, CPDS. Mr Micó, who was detained during the recent presidential poll, urged Ms Palacio to assist his country during the upcoming local elections to secure a fair and transparent process by sending international observers.
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