…But his wardrobe was picked from the racks of Versace, Gucci, and Dolce & Gabbana, and he spared no expense on himself, from the $30 million in cash he paid for the estate to what Senate investigators later reported were vast sums for household furnishings: $59,850 for rugs, $58,000 for a home theater, even $1,734.17 for a pair of wine glasses. When he arrived back home – usually in the back seat of a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce or one of his other several dozen cars – his employees were instructed to stand in a receiving line to greet the prince. And then they lined up to do the same when he left. …
…Energy revenues have flowed into the pockets of the country’s elite, but virtually none has trickled down to the poor majority; since the oil boom began, the country has rocketed to one of the world’s highest per capita incomes – and one of its lowest standards of living. Nearly four-fifths of its people live in abject poverty; child mortality has increased to the point that today some 15 percent of Equatorial Guinea’s children die before reaching age 5, making it one of the deadliest places on the planet to be young.
…Energy revenues have flowed into the pockets of the country’s elite, but virtually none has trickled down to the poor majority; since the oil boom began, the country has rocketed to one of the world’s highest per capita incomes – and one of its lowest standards of living. Nearly four-fifths of its people live in abject poverty; child mortality has increased to the point that today some 15 percent of Equatorial Guinea’s children die before reaching age 5, making it one of the deadliest places on the planet to be young.
An NPR story this morning led me to this article in the Daily Beastthat posits dictator’s sons (and the prospect that they represent never-ending dynastic dictatorship) is the downfall of many a dictator.
When people wonder why Turkey has emerged as the most successful country in the Muslim Middle East, they should not overlook the fact that the nation’s founder, Kemal Ataturk, had no children. Like Washington, he was wildly admired and could easily have named a son to succeed him. Instead, like Washington, he gently faded from power and allowed his country to evolve toward democracy.
Turkey inherited a competent bureaucracy and a legacy of good governance. Ataturk simply seized the best qualities of the Ottoman period and built a new government around them.
A couple of brits attempted a coup in the EQ a few years ago. It’s a shame they didn’t pull it off, the current government is pretty heinous. The president is a bit of a cannibal and that’s only one of his charming qualities.
