Francisco Macías Nguema (born Mez-m Ngueme, later Africanised to Masie Nguema Biyogo Ñegue Ndong; 1 January 1924 – 29 September 1979), often referred to as Macías Nguema or simply Macías, was an Equatoguinean politician who served as the first president of Equatorial Guinea from the country's gaining of independence in 1968, until his overthrow in 1979. He is widely remembered as one of the most brutal dictators in history. As president, he exhibited bizarre and erratic behavior, to the point that many of his contemporaries believed he was insane.
A member of the Fang people, Macías Nguema held numerous official positions under Spanish colonial rule before being elected the first president of the soon-to-be independent country in 1968. Early in his rule, he consolidated power by establishing an extreme cult of personality and a one-party state ruled by his United National Workers' Party (PUNT), and declaring himself president for life in 1972.
As President, he lacked a coherent political ideology, notably identifying as a "Hitlerian-Marxist" at one point. Domestically, his presidency was characterized by attempts at Africanization and harsh persecution of non-Fang ethnic groups. In foreign policy, he quickly turned against Spain and allied himself with the Eastern Bloc, receiving support from the Soviet Union, Cuba and North Korea, and to a lesser extent, France and its local allies such as Cameroonian President Ahmadou Ahidjo and Gabonese President Omar Bongo, although relations with Cameroon and Gabon collapsed by 1976. Due to his dictatorship's severe human rights abuses and economic mismanagement, tens of thousands of people fled the country to avoid persecution. This led to Equatorial Guinea being internationally nicknamed the "Dachau of Africa". His rule also led to significant brain drain, as intellectuals and educated classes were particular targets for his persecution. In 1979, he was overthrown in a coup d'état by his nephew Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and was subsequently tried and executed.
According to various sources, anywhere from 20,000 to 80,000 of the roughly 200,000 to 300,000 people living in the country were killed under his regime, with tens of thousands more fleeing the country. He has been compared to Pol Pot because of the violent, unpredictable, and anti-intellectual nature of his government.
Background and early life Originally named Mez-m Ngueme, Francisco Macías Nguema was born on 1 January 1924, at Nzangayong, Spanish Guinea. His parents had been expelled with the rest of their clan from what is today Woleu-Ntem Province, Gabon, at a time when the Spanish Colonial Guard had not yet exerted control over the jungled area. The family was part of the Esangui clan of the Fang people, Equatorial Guinea's majority ethnic group. His family settled in Mongomo, where he was raised. Differing accounts exist of Macías Nguema's parentage and childhood, with some alleging that he was the son of a witch doctor who allegedly killed his younger brother as a sacrifice. Other accounts claims that his father was merely a local Fang noble. According to this version, at age nine, Macías saw his father being fatally beaten by a local colonial administrator, when he tried to use his title to negotiate better wages for his people. Macías was orphaned a week later when his mother committed suicide, leaving him and 10 siblings to fend for themselves.
Macías Nguema managed to survive several bouts of tuberculosis as a child, which left him with a profound fear of death for the remainder of his life. He was educated at a Catholic school through to primary level. He changed his name to Francisco Macías Nguema at this time after being baptized by Spanish Catholic missionaries, and would come to learn Spanish in addition to his native Fang. During his adolescence, he worked as a servant for some wealthy Spanish settlers, being described as helpful and obedient, which earned him ridicule and mistreatment by other non-Christianized Fang.
Early career Macías Nguema failed the civil service exam three times in the 1930s. Regardless, he eventually became a clerk in the Spanish colonial administration, after passing the exam on the fourth try with assistance and some favoritism from colonial authorities, serving as court interpreter. In the 1940s, he also worked for the Forest Service in Bata, the Río Benito Public Works Department, as a catechist in Bata, and in the Bata Public Works Service. In 1961, he first travelled to Madrid as spokesperson for a delegation which honoured Francisco Franco, Spain's dictator, on the 25th anniversary of his seizure of power. At the time, Macías Nguema generally displayed no anti-Spanish sentiment and collaborated with the authorities, preferring to work towards eventual independence within the existing system. Unlike many Equatoguinean activists at the time, he was never jailed by the Spanish.
As court interpreter, Macías Nguema eventually began taking bribes to manipulate his translations to absolve or incriminate defendants. The Spanish interpreted his important role in many trials as evidence for influence and talent for leadership, and began to rapidly promote him. He became assistant interpreter, mayor of Mongomo, minister of public works, and finally deputy president of the Governing Council within a single year in the 1960s after Spanish Guinea was transformed from a colony to a province of Spain. He also served as a member of the territorial parliament.
Even at this early point of his career, Macías Nguema already exhibited erratic tendencies. In a conference to discuss the future independence of Equatorial Guinea at Madrid, he suddenly began an "incoherent eulogy of the Nazis", claiming that Adolf Hitler had wanted to save Africans from colonialism and only got "confused", causing him to attempt to conquer Europe. At one point he declared himself a "Hitlerian-Marxist".
In 1964, Macías Nguema was named deputy prime minister of the autonomous transition government established the prior year. Around this time, Macías Nguema himself came to fear that he was mentally unstable. Before the 1968 Spanish Guinean general election, aged 44, he went to receive medical treatment in Madrid. Despite these concerns, Macías Nguema still ran for president of the soon-to-be independent country against Prime Minister Bonifacio Ondó Edú on a strongly nationalist platform in 1968.
Macías Nguema employed a Spanish lawyer to write his texts, providing him with a coherent agenda, and made various promises to improve his popularity. He would point at European-owned houses and ask the crowds if they wanted to own the place; when they responded positively, he stated that he would give them to the listeners if they voted for him. However, he was easily distracted from his speeches, and often made "chaotic public appearances". His bouts of erratic behavior were generally believed to be the sign of a "fearless" and "charming" leader.
In what has been the only free election held in the country to date, he defeated Ondó Edú in the runoff and was sworn in as president on 12 October. During his time as president-elect, he was awarded the Collar of the Order of Civil Merit. He was also made Commander of the for his service during the colonial administration. By this point he had also distanced himself from Catholicism, becoming outwardly critical of the Church.
Presidency
Early rule
After assuming power, Macías Nguema initially maintained a moderate policy and good relations with Spain, but within a year began to hold inflammatory, anti-European speeches and claimed that there were plots to overthrow him. His rival Bonifacio Ondó Edú then fled to Gabon. Relations with Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Luis Carrero Blanco had rapidly deteriorated. The coffers of the only two banks in the new country, the Banco Exterior de España and the Banco de Crédito, were emptied, meaning officials could not be paid. The country still lacked a national bank or its own currency, meaning the Spanish peseta had to be used, and according to the transition agreements with Spain, any biennial budgets approved for the territory prior to independence would need to be used, but Spain refused to honor its obligations.
In March 1969, Macías Nguema arrested his own foreign minister and political rival, Atanasio Ndongo Miyone, on treason charges, and killed him by defenestrating him. Macías then took photographs of Ndongo dying on the street, later showing the album to Newsweek correspondent John Barnes.«El golpe del 5 de marzo de 1969. Una versión española. Documental (18 minutos)» Ondó Edú was also captured and brought back to Equatorial Guinea, where he and several other senior officials were killed at Black Beach. Macías Nguema then accused Spain of creating an economic blockade by refusing to acknowledge obligations under the transition agreements, declaring he would not abide by the 1968 Constitution that had been "imposed" on the country by Spain and which he opposed.
He started travelling the country, encouraging his followers to fight against the Spanish, provoking a diplomatic crisis, also ordering the confiscation of all weapons possessed by Spaniards in the country and demanding they abandon all property they owned there. The Spanish government subsequently organized the evacuation of all its citizens (roughly 7,500) and all its Civil Guard forces, while the British ambassador described the Equatoguinean capital as being in a state of total chaos. At this point, Macías Nguema still recognized his own mental instability, and again sought help. After assuming the presidency, he made a secret trip to Barcelona and visited a psychiatrist for help. Although little was known about what advice the Spanish expert gave Macías Nguema, Kenyon argued that the treatment appeared to have failed, considering the president's subsequent development. Macías Nguema persisted in consuming large amounts of drugs.
On Christmas Eve 1969, Macías Nguema had 186 alleged dissidents executed inside the national football stadium in Malabo, as amplifiers in the stadium played Mary Hopkin's song "Those Were the Days", which was supposedly one of the dictator's favorite songs. 150 of them were shot or hanged, with the remaining 36 being ordered to dig ditches, in which they were subsequently buried up to their necks and eaten alive by red ants over the next few days.
In 1971, he began forcing the entire population to undergo daily military training with a wooden rifle.
On 7 May 1971, Macías Nguema issued Decree 415, which repealed parts of the 1968 Constitution and granted him "all direct powers of Government and Institutions", including powers formerly held by the legislative and judiciary branches, as well as the cabinet of ministers. On 18 October 1971, Law 1 imposed the death penalty as punishment for threatening the President or the government. Insulting or offending the President or his cabinet was punishable by 30 years in prison. On 14 July 1972, a presidential decree merged all existing political parties into the United National Party (later the United National Workers' Party), with Macías Nguema as President for Life of both the nation and the party. Fearing that the Spanish wanted to overthrow him, Macías Nguema offered promotions and other rewards to anyone who revealed a Spanish spy. This led to a climate of fear and suspicion, as owning the wrong book or having talked with the wrong person could result in punishment, imprisonment or death.