Equatorial Guinea: Drowning in Oil? 2003
Distributed by Filmakers Library, 124 East 40th Street, New York, NY 10016; 202-808-4980
Produced by Meritxell Ribas; TVC
Directed by Joan Sabat
VHS, color, 35 min.
Jr. High - Adult
African Studies, Area Studies, Business, Economics, Environmental Studies, Ethics, Human Rights, International Relations, Postcolonialism, Political Science, Transportation, Technology
Date Entered: 02/10/2005
Reviewed by Brad Eden, Ph.D., Head, Web and Digitization Services, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las VegasThis film looks in depth at the country of Equatorial Guinea in West Africa, where in 1995 U.S. oil companies discovered oil. Equatorial Guinea is now the 3rd largest oil producing nation in Africa, and because of its location to the United States, has helped the U.S. to diversify its oil production away from the Arabian peninsula.
Although Equatorial Guinea only recently broke away from its Spanish colonial past, there is controversy as to how the U.S. was able to monopolize on the oil production currently underway there. There is currently a double standard, according to interviews with political dissidents. Human rights abuses in addition to environmental and political exploitation are largely ignored by the U.S., so they are allowed to have sole offshore rights to this oil. The current president of Equatorial Guinea, President Obiang, considered by many a dictator, personally steals most of the oil money, using it to finance his lavish lifestyle while the country and its people are impoverished; unemployed because of the decline of cocoa crops as the sole economic activity; and those who speak out against the abuses are imprisoned. This film is an interesting look at how oil, greed, and Third World poverty all come together in one small African nation.