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Today's
Stories
November
1 / 2, 2003
Saul Landau
Cui
Bono? The Cuba Embargo as Rip Off
October 31, 2003
Lee Ballinger
Making
a Dollar Out of 15 Cents: The Sweatshops of Sean "P. Diddy"
Combs
Wayne
Madsen
The
GOP's Racist Trifecta
Michael Donnelly
Settling for Peanuts: Democrats Trick the Greens, Treat Big Timber
Patrick
Cockburn
Baghdad
Diary: Iraqis are Naming Their New Babies "Saddam"
Elaine
Cassel
Coming
to a State Near You: The Matrix (Interstate Snoops, Not the Movie)
October 30, 2003
Forrest
Hylton
Popular
Insurrection and National Revolution in Bolivia
Eric Ruder
"We Have to Speak Out!": Marching with the Military
Families
Dave Lindorff
Big
Lies and Little Lies: The Meaning of "Mission Accomplished"
Philip
Adams
"Everyone is Running Scared": Denigrating Critics of
Israel
Sean Donahue
Howard Dean: a Hawk in a Dove's Cloak
Robert
Jensen
Big Houses & Global Justice: A Moral Level of Consumption?
Alexander
Cockburn
Paul
Krugman: Part of the Problem
October
29, 2003
Chris
Floyd
Thieves
Like Us: Cheney's Backdoor to Halliburton
Robert Fisk
Iraq Guerrillas Adopt a New Strategy: Copy the Americans
Rick Giombetti
Let
Them Eat Prozac: an Interview with David Healy
The Intelligence
Squad
Dark
Forces? The Military Steps Up Recruiting of Blacks
Elaine
Cassel
Prosecutors
as Therapists, Phantoms as Terrorists
Marie Trigona
Argentina's War on the Unemployed Workers Movement
Gary Leupp
Every
Day, One KIA: On the Iraq War Casualty Figures
October
28, 2003
Rich Gibson
The
Politics of an Inferno: Notes on Hellfire 2003
Uri Avnery
Incident
in Gaza
Diane
Christian
Wishing
Death
Robert
Fisk
Eyewitness
in Iraq: "They're Getting Better"
Toni Solo
Authentic Americans and John Negroponte
Jason
Leopold
Halliburton in Iran
Shrireen Parsons
When T-shirts are Verboten
Chris
White
9/11
in Context: a Marine Veteran's Perspective
October 27, 2003
William
A. Cook
Ministers
of War: Criminals of the Cloth
David
Lindorff
The
Times, Dupes and the Pulitzer
Elaine
Cassel
Antonin
Scalia's Contemptus Mundi
Robert
Fisk
Occupational Schizophrenia
John Chuckman
Banging Your Head into Walls
Seth Sandronsky
Snoops R Us
Bill Kauffman
George
Bush, the Anti-Family President
October
25 / 26, 2003
Robert
Pollin
The
US Economy: Another Path is Possible
Jeffrey St. Clair
Outsourcing US Guided Missile Technology to China
James
Bunn
Plotting
Pre-emptive Strikes
Saul Landau
Should Limbaugh Do Time?
Ted Honderich
Palestinian Terrorism, Morality & Germany
Thomas Nagy
Saving the Army of Peace
Christopher
Brauchli
Between Bush and a Lobotomy: Killing Endangered Species for Profit
Laura Carlsen
Latin America's Archives of Terror
Diane
Christian
Evil Acts & Evil Actors
Muqtedar Khan
Lessons from the Imperial Adventure in Iraq
John Feffer
The Tug of War on the Korea Peninsula
Brian Cloughley
Iraq War Memories are Made of Lies
Benjamin
Dangl
and Kathryn Ledebur
An Uneasy Peace in Bolivia
Karyn
Strickler
Down
with Big Brother's Spying Eyes
Noah Leavitt
Legal Globalization
John Stanton
Hitler's Ghost Haunts America
Mickey
Z.
War of the Words
Adam Engel
Tractatus Ridiculous
Poets'
Basement
Curtis, Subiet and Albert
Website of the Weekend
Project Last Stand
October
24, 2003
Kurt Nimmo
Ashcroft's
War on Greenpeace
Lenni Brenner
The Demographics of American Jews
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Rockets,
Napalm, Torpedoes and Lies: the Attack on the USS Liberty Revisited
Sarah Weir
Cover-up of the Israeli Attack on the US Liberty
David
Krieger
WMD Found in DC: Bush is the Button
Mohammed Hakki
It's Palestine, Stupid!: Americans and the Middle East
Harry
Browne
Northern
Ireland: the Agreement that Wasn't
October
23, 2003
Diane
Christian
Ruthlessness
Kurt Nimmo
Criticizing Zionism
David Lindorff
A General Theory of Theology
Alan Maass
The Future of the Anti-War Movement
William
Blum
Imperial
Indifference
Stew Albert
A Memo
October
22, 2003
Wayne
Madsen
Religious
Insanity Runs Rampant
Ray McGovern
Holding
Leaders Accountable for Lies
Christopher
Brauchli
There's
No Civilizing the Death Penalty
Elaine
Cassel
Legislators
and Women's Bodies
Bill Glahn
RIAA
Watch: the New Morality of Capitalism
Anthony Arnove
An Interview with Tariq Ali
October 21, 2003
Uri Avnery
The
Beilin Agreement
Robert Jensen
The Fundamentalist General
David
Lindorff
War Dispatch from the NYT: God is on Our Side!
William S. Lind
Bremer is Deaf to History
Bridget
Gibson
Fatal Vision
Alan Haber
A Human Chain for Peace in Ann Arbor
Peter
Linebaugh
On the Bicentennial of the Hanging of Thomas Russell
October
20, 2003
Standard
Schaefer
Chile's
Failed Economy: an Interview with Michael Hudson
Chris
Floyd
Circus Maximus: Arnie, Enron and Bush Maul California
Mark Hand
Democrats Seek to Disappear Chomsky
& Nader
John &
Elaine Mellencamp
Peaceful
World
Elaine
Cassel
God's
General Unmuzzled
October
18 / 19, 2003
Robert
Pollin
Clintonomics:
the Hollow Boom
Gary Leupp
Israel, Syria and Stage Four in the Terror War
Saul Landau
Day of the Gropenfuhrer
Bruce Anderson
The California Recall
John Gershman
Bush in Asia: What a Difference a Decade Makes
Nelson P. Valdes
Bush, Electoral Politics and Cuba's "Illicit Sex Trade"
Kurt Nimmo
Shock Therapy and the Israeli Scenario
Tom Gorman
Al Franken and Al-Shifa
Brian
Cloughley
Public Propaganda and the Iraq War
Joanne Mariner
A New Way to Kill Tigers
Denise
Low
The Cancer of Sprawl
Mickey Z.
The Reverend of Doom
John Chuckman
US Missiles for Israeli Nukes?
George Naggiar
A Veto of Public Diplomacy
Alison
Weir
Death Threats in Berkeley
Benjamin Dangl
Bolivian Govt. Falling Apart
Ron Jacobs
The Politics of Bob Dylan
Fidel Castro
A Review of Garcia Marquez's Memoir
Adam Engel
I Hope My Corpse Gives You the Plague
Poets' Basement
Jones, Albert, Guthrie and Greeder
October
17, 2003
Stan Goff
Piss
On My Leg: Perception Control and the Stage Management of War
Newton
Garver
Bolivia
in Turmoil
Standard
Schaefer
Grocery Unions Under Attack
Ben Terrall
The Ordeal of the Lockheed 52
Ron Jacobs
First Syria, Then Iran
David
Lindorff
Michael
Moore Proclaims Mumia Guilty
October
16, 2003
Marjorie
Cohn
Bush
Gunning for Regime Change in Cuba
Gary Leupp
"Getting Better" in Iraq
Norman
Solomon
The US Press and Israel: Brand Loyalty and the Absence of Remorse
Rush Limbaugh
The 10 Most Overrated Athletes of All Time
Lenni
Brenner
I
Didn't Meet Huey Newton. He Met Me
Website of the Day
Time Tested Books
October
15, 2003
Sunil
Sharma / Josh Frank
The
General and the Governor: Two Measures of American Desperation
Forrest
Hylton
Dispatch
from the Bolivian War: "Like Animals They Kill Us"
Brian
Cloughley
Those
Phony Letters: How Bush Uses GIs to Spread Propaganda About Iraq
Ahmad
Faruqui
Lessons
of the October War
Uri Avnery
Three
Days as a Living Shield
Website
of the Day
Rank and File: the New Unity Partnership Document
JoAnn
Wypijewski
The
New Unity Partnership:
A Manifest Destiny for Labor
October 14, 2003
Eric Ridenour
Qibya
& Sharon: Anniversary of a Massacre
Elaine
Cassel
The
Disgrace That is Guantanamo
Robert
Jensen
What the "Fighting Sioux" Tells Us About White People
David Lindorff
Talking Turkey About Iraq
Patrick
Cockburn
US Troops Bulldoze Crops
VIPS
One Person Can Make a Difference
Toni Solo
The CAFTA Thumbscrews
Peter
Linebaugh
"Remember
Orr!"
Website
of the Day
BRIDGES
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
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Weekend
Edition
November 1 / 2, 2003
From Cocoa Fields
to Oil in Equatorial Guinea
Where Trickle Down is Not
Trickling
By AUGUSTIN VELLOSO
Until very recently, the West African country
of Equatorial Guinea had always been an exporter of agricultural,
timber, and mineral products. In the 1990s oil started flowing
from offshore fields, and nowadays oil comprises 90% of the country's
exports. As a result there have been enormous increases of the
gross national product, 76% in 1997 and 20% in 1998 and 1999.
In other words, in a few years this impoverished country rapidly
joined the medium income states.
However, behind this seeming economic
miracle there is another story of mass corruption, a brutal regime,
and the usual exploitative American oil companies. It is not
the first time that American companies make the discovery of
rich resources seem like a curse instead of great hope to improve
the lives of the majority of the local population.
In a nutshell
A good description of the situation in
Equatorial Guinea is found in the September 2003 issue of United
States Department of Energy Information:
" despite rapid growth in real GDP,
there is strong evidence of government misappropriation of oil
revenues, in particular, for lavish personal expenditures. Furthermore,
the failure of the government to inject oil revenues into the
country's economy, especially to fund much-needed improvements
in the country's infrastructure, has meant little improvement
in the economic and social welfare of most Equatoguineans. While
real per capita GDP has doubled in the last five years, there
has been little positive change in social indicators."
Not much else needs to be said to describe
accurately the current situation of the country concerning the
rapid and extraordinary increase of the national product, and
its unequal sharing between the ruling elite and the rest of
the population. One almost does not need to check data from
human rights NGOs to verify that the activities of powerful companies
like Marathon, ExxonMobil, Triton and Atlantic Methanol are not
benefiting most of the inhabitants of this country. However,
most people are unaware of what is really happening here.
Some income disparities
It is a useful exercise to compare an
Equatorial Guinean national working for any of the oil giants
with an expatriate executive. The oil executives--usually Americans-
work for 28 days in Equatorial Guinea and go away intermittently
on leave for a month. Skilled expatriates--most originating
from the Philippines -- work for nine weeks and are away on leave
for four. In contrast, the Equatoguinean workers are on the job
for eleven months.
The income differences offer a starker
contrast. The oil executives receive between USD 10,000 and
12,000 p/month plus a week-end bonus of about USD 350. The white-collar
workers receive between USD 7,000 and 8,000 plus the bonus of
230. The "Philippinos" receive between USD 1,800 and
2,000 plus a bonus of USD 50. Air tickets home, accommodation,
meals, and medical treatment are also part of the package for
these employees.
| Type of Worker |
Income US$
Per Month |
Weekend Bonus US$ |
Months on Job |
Fringe Benefits |
| Oil Exec |
10-12,000 |
350 |
6 |
airfare, housing,
medical, meals |
| White collar |
7-8,000 |
230 |
6 |
airfare, housing,
medical, meals |
| Expat Labor |
1,800-,2000 |
50 |
9 |
airfare, housing,
medical, meals |
| Local hires |
300-1,300 |
0 |
11 |
one meal a day |
The local workers are only employed in
the lower rungs of the oil operation and are paid in local currency.
Cleaners earn between USD 300 and 470, security personnel earn
between USD 670 and 800, car drivers earn between USD 670 and
900, secretaries and translators earn between USD 1,200 and 1,300.
Their lunch meal is free, but they do not receive housing or
medical benefits. The local hires have never heard of bonuses,
and for them there are no free tickets home.
There also are no important secondary
economic activities that have a positive impact on the local
economy. The food for the expatriates is imported from Cameroon
and Spain, and their houses, warehouses and other buildings are
prefabricated, these are made in France and shipped into the
country. Foreigners live in enclaves separated from the local
population. Whatever infrastructure is built benefits the oil
industry employees. The enclave is also a "no go area",
and an elaborate security system blocks off the enclave from
the locals. The well-to-do expatriates spending in Malabo or
elsewhere in the country is essentially nonexistent. They live
in the enclave and seldom venture beyond.
Finally, the number of nationals employed
by the oil companies is minuscule and making very little substantial
contribution to the national economy. Atlantic Methanol employs
around 140 nationals, ExxonMobil 200, Triton 180, Marathon 250.
Even if all nationals working for subsidiary companies are added
to these figures, the total varies between 1,100 and 1,500 workers.
In comparison, the oil companies employ around 6,000 expatriate
workers.
Certainly the local people are better
off working in the oil industry as compared to the traditional
industries, but the point is that for the size of the operations
and the amount of oil pumped, the economic impact on the country
is negligible.
Trickle Up
Native workers are probably not very
fond of their leaders, but they are forced to support the president
and his coterie. First, it pays to be on friendly terms with
them because anyone wanting to work in the oil industry will
have to apply to job agencies owned by Mr. Armengol and Mr. Mba
Nguema, brothers of Mr Teodoro Obiang Nguema, president of Equatorial
Guinea. They vet the workers and use this patronage system to
retain political power. Furthermore, three dollars per month
are withheld from their wages to finance the Partido Democrático
de Guinea Ecuatorial (PDGE), the party that has been permanently
in power in Equatorial Guinea and the only one receiving "popular
support". Furthermore, the government retains 20% of the
salary as an income tax, 0.4% for social security, plus USD 3.50
p/month for unemployment insurance. The local workers don't
even dream that such deductions entitle them to some benefits
or rights. Similarly, the existence of the PDGE does not mean
the country enjoys any democracy.
The government also requires the companies
operating in the country to transfer to the Treasury 21% out
of the local workers monthly salary. It also receives 10% of
the declared value of the oil exported. With these funds the
government is supposed to provide the local workers with the
necessary equipment: helmets, special clothes, shoes and so on,
since the oil companies only provide equipment for the expatriate
employees. In fact, all funds go to a private bank account in
the US controlled by Mr Obiang Nguema. As the investigative
ngo Global Witness reports, "billions of dollars of oil
money have gone missing in countries like Equatorial Guinea.
Much of the money appears to have subsequently turned up in offshore
bank accounts controlled by state officials or their families".
Globalization: oiling
the elites and ruining the masses
It is President Obiang Nguema and a close
circle of relatives who are becoming incredibly rich thanks to
the oil industry. The oil companies don't deal with the state,
but with its president. The oil business is the president's
private business--all made possible thanks to the oil companies
who are willing to deal with him. The president is not accountable
to anyone, and no one dares to question the arrangement due to
the threat of imprisonment, torture or the exile.
The oil companies are pleased because
the amount of oil extracted and the amount of funds transferred
to Mr Obiang remain secret. It also seems that despite the companies'
codes of "business ethics" they are not accountable
to anybody either. Both the corrupt politicians and the oil
companies benefit from this partnership. Never mind that impoverished
people of the country are ignored. The country is left without
proper roads, no clean drinking water, no proper public health
care system, the educational system is in ruins, and many people
must "make ends meet."
It is American foreign policy that makes
this possible, and American foreign companies don't seem to care
if the newfound wealth is wasted and supports a grotesque corrupt
regime that one would only think of finding in a Graham Greene
novel.
Agustin Velloso
is a lecturer of Comparative Education in Madrid, Spain. He can
be reached at avelloso@edu.uned.es
Weekend
Edition Features for Oct. 25 / 26, 2003
Robert
Pollin
The
US Economy: Another Path is Possible
Jeffrey St. Clair
Outsourcing US Guided Missile Technology to China
James
Bunn
Plotting
Pre-emptive Strikes
Saul Landau
Should Limbaugh Do Time?
Ted Honderich
Palestinian Terrorism, Morality & Germany
Thomas Nagy
Saving the Army of Peace
Christopher
Brauchli
Between Bush and a Lobotomy: Killing Endangered Species for Profit
Laura Carlsen
Latin America's Archives of Terror
Diane
Christian
Evil Acts & Evil Actors
Muqtedar Khan
Lessons from the Imperial Adventure in Iraq
John Feffer
The Tug of War on the Korea Peninsula
Brian Cloughley
Iraq War Memories are Made of Lies
Benjamin
Dangl
and Kathryn Ledebur
An Uneasy Peace in Bolivia
Karyn
Strickler
Down
with Big Brother's Spying Eyes
Noah Leavitt
Legal Globalization
John Stanton
Hitler's Ghost Haunts America
Mickey
Z.
War of the Words
Adam Engel
Tractatus Ridiculous
Poets'
Basement
Curtis, Subiet and Albert
Website of the Weekend
Project Last Stand
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