Equatorial Guinea

A small country in the Atlantic coast of Africa.

It was originally a Portuguese colony, until it was given to Spain in exchange of Spanish territory in America. That’s right, people in Equatorial Guinea speak Spanish. That turns them almost into outcasts in the continent. In their defense, though, they also speak French.

Eventually, the country declared independence in 1968 and elected their president, and that’s when It Got Worse. Their first president was some loon called Francisco Macías Nguema, who can be compared to Pol Pot with his obsession with anti-intellectual movements and unpredictable behaviors. He ran a one-party government, prohibited fishing, installed a cult of personality around him, stole all the money he could, banned private education, gave himself all the political power and ordered the execution of people with Mary Hopkins’ music as background. He was eventually deposed in a coup in 1979 by the actual president, Teodoro Obiang (Macias' nephew). He’s no saint at all, but compared to his predecessor, the Equatoguineans probably would have accepted anything. As for Macías, he was put on trial and summarily executed. However, just like in other cases, this became a Full Circle Revolution, since Obiang has installed his own cult of personality, censorship of the press and repression, to the point the country has achieved a lousy reputation abroad.

In spite of having oil deposits, the country is rather poor. Maybe, just maybe, it has something to do with the leaders’ kleptomaniac ways. Especially considering Obiang is filthy rich.

The most famous Equatoguinean, besides the two infamous aforementioned, is the swimmer Eric Moussambani who left the others competitors at the 2000 Summer Olympics literally watching his splashing.

By the way, the country is not on the Equator. It is close to it, though.

Oh, and it has Pygmies.

Tropes:

 * A God Am I: Nguema changed the national motto at one point to "There is no other God than Macias Nguema."
 * Obiang's pulled the same act; state radio claimed he was a god in permanent contact with The Almighty.
 * Ax Crazy: Nguema
 * Evil Versus Evil: Insane, oppressive fuck vs. not-so insane, but still oppressive fuck? Take your pick!
 * High Octane Nightmare Fuel: Black Beach Prison, which during Nguema's tenure acquired the nickname "Africa's Auschwitz". Things have not improved under his nephew. Disease is rampant, inmates are routinely tortured, and foreign prisoners tend to die quickly or even "disappear". See the linked Daily Mail article below for more (they called it the cruelest jail on the planet).
 * Our Presidents Are Different: Nguema is President Evil / President Lunatic. Obiang is President Corrupt.
 * Well, if this article is to be believed, Obiang also seems to follow into the Evil/Lunatic category. He claims to fall in Idi Amin's cannibalistic footsteps by (ahem) eating opponents' testicles to gain their power.

Equatorial Guinea and Equatoguineans in fiction:

 * An episode of Yes Minister happened in Buranda, which is suspiciously similar to Equatorial Guinea.
 * The book and film The Dogs of War also take place in a carbon-copy of the country.
 * The island of Bioko appears a lot in The Illuminatus Trilogy.
 * Has a small but pivotal role in the Science Fiction novel Limit, taking place in 2025.