The Teodorín Situation (Part II)
The Geopolitics of China and the U.S. in the Gulf of Guinea
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14422/cir.i27.y2023.002Keywords:
Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, U.S.-China tensions in Africa, Chinese Naval Base, oil and gasAbstract
The essay is divided and published into two parts: each separately assesses the main recent trends in the national and international politics of Equatorial Guinea — spanning roughly between the Covid19 crisis and May 2023. Part II examines the so far unfounded claims regarding the Chinese Navy’s plan to build its first Atlantic base in Equatorial Guinea, which has been widely publicized by the U.S. foreign policy establishment. Moreover, this piece delves into the origins and ongoing developments of international legal disputes between France and Equatorial Guinea, specifically concerning the prosecution of Teodorín for corruption in a Paris court. Part I profiled the current vice president, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, widely known by his moniker Teodorín. The resolution of and tensions within both the U.S.-China and French geopolitical and international dimensions provide the main global frames for Teodorín’s succession, which is practically set in stone, and quite imminent. The combined introduction in part I and in the conclusion in part II outlines the recent shifts across the domestic political, international geopolitical, and economic domains that have conditioned Teodorín’s active and seemingly inevitable rise to the presidency of Equatorial Guinea.
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