August 2009 marks the 30th anniversary of Teodoro Obiang Nguema’s coup d’état against Macias Nguema, but it is not occasion that many in Equatorial Guinea will be celebrating, writes Agustín Velloso. Yet for all his unpopularity, Obiang has won election after election with more than 95 per cent of the vote. Velloso shares with Pambazuka News Obiang’s strategy for playing ‘the democratic game’ in front of the international community.
On 3 August, few in Equatorial Guinea will have celebrated the 30th anniversary of the coup d'état led by Teodoro Obiang Nguema against Macias Nguema, his uncle and the head of the state. Obiang's government refers to what happened with these words: 'In 1979, after the devastation of a decade under the tyrannical President Macias, then-Lieutenant Colonel Obiang took control of the government and was named President of the Supreme Military Council.'
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