African freedom fighter continues the struggle
By Lindsey Gonzalez
Sitting in a black office chair in his office in midtown Manhattan, clad in a black pants suit with a white undershirt and a red and white checkered tie, Dr. Adolfo Obiang Biko crossed his hands neatly in front of him, his gaze aimed slightly off to the distance as if deep in thought. Although he was sitting, his presence was so strong that it permeated the air.
“Politics can be a very dirty game,” he said in his calm voice that is layered with a heavy accent.
The 70-year-old Dr. Biko is a native of Equatorial Guinea, where he was a leader in the movement during the 1960s to gain independence from Spain. He is currently living in exile in New York City, where he is writing a memoir.
In a recent interview, he said that he remains active in opposition politics against the current government, making occasional appearances in Washington D.C. and Europe. He spends a few days a week in his New York office working on his book.
Although he is far from his country, Dr. Biko remains passionate about his country’s history and its future.
He was a petitioner for the liberty of Equatorial Guinea from Spain and on Oct. 12, 1968, he was a co-signer of the Magna Carta of Equatorial Guinea’s independence at the United Nations. Dr. Biko was just 28 years old.
He was elected president of MONALIGUE, which stands for The National Liberation Movement of Equatorial New Guinea, in April 1970, in Gabon by the majority of votes of the Guineans in exile, and by thousands of signatures supporting his candidacy from the party members inside Equatorial Guinea. MONALIGUE is a party dedicated to reforms in his country. Since MONALIGUE members are unwelcome in Equatorial Guinea, the party’s activities are carried out by exiles living in Gabon.
Equatorial Guinea is the only Spanish-speaking African country and lies between Cameroon and Gabon on the West coast of Africa. This small country has been under the leadership for 32 years by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who overthrew his uncle, Francisco Macias Nguema, in a coup d’état to gain control of the country. Prior to Mbasogo, Nguema had become the first president of Equatorial Guinea in October of 1968, when independence was achieved from Spain.
International human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have criticized the government of Mbasogo for alleged human rights violations. A 2009 human rights report on Equatorial Guinea from Amnesty International also noted the extreme poverty of the residents, even as the country produced plenty of oil. “Sixty percent of the population lived on U.S. $1 a day, despite high levels of economic growth and oil production, and one of the highest per capita income in the world,” the Amnesty International report stated.
Dr. Biko, an opposition activist, said he was jailed unjustly on a trip to Libreville, Gabon, in May 2004. He said he was going to visit friends from Equatorial Guinea who were living in exile there at the time.
“Some of my commanders were sent back to Guinea right away and some were executed, some are still in prison. I was in prison for nine months because the Gabonese decided to go under the system, and when I was in court, the United States representative had asked the judge what would happen to me if I was found guilty and he said I would be condemned to death or life in prison,” said Dr. Biko.
He was charged with an attempted coup d’état to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea, but thanks to his many connections that he had made throughout his political career, especially his friend, former U.S. senator from Nebraska, Chuck Hagel, he was released in February 2005. According to Dr. Biko, Hagel had written a letter to Omar Bongo, the President of Gabon, requesting that Dr. Biko be treated as a “special humanitarian case” and that he be returned “to his family in the United States as soon as it is practicable.”
Once released, Dr. Biko boarded a plane to Paris, France and then to New York, where he met up with his only daughter. Once they arrived at her home in Brooklyn, they decided that he should document his condition, so they took pictures of him. These pictures, along with ones that he was able to obtain of the prison and of the prisoners, will serve as his supporting evidence to be published in his future book, he said.
Video: An interview with Dr. Biko
Dr. Biko is currently still working on his memoir titled Naked Like the Others: In Prison In Gabon, Africa. His goal is to publish his memoir as soon as possible to tell about his punishment for leading the fight for democracy. His first book, Equatorial Guinea: from Spanish Colonialism to the Discovery of Oil, gives a detailed history of the country. Much of his life has been dedicated to the liberation of his country from injustice, oppression, and dictatorial tyranny.
“My experience has taught me that it is a continuous learning process, and that I must analyze the past and build new strategies and alliances to obtain the final goal of changing Equatorial New Guinea from the present family dictatorship into a democratic state.”