ABSTRACT
In Equatorial Guinea the capricious violence of the first decade of independence has been replaced by a quieter authoritarianism. The internal issue of human rights is still subsidiary to the strategic and economic goals of outsiders. France, South Africa, and Nigeria, among others, have differing and conflicting aims that supersede any abstract concern with the conditions of the majority of Guineanos. Various organizations continue to cite serious abuses. Amnesty International has condemned the sentencing of civilians to death by military courts. The European Economic Community is now trying to use its economic leverage to assure a transition to a working democracy in the 1990s. At Equatorial Guinea is an example of the triumph of the right of nations over the rights of individuals. The system that made Equatorial Guinea a model colony is no longer practical. A protected metropolitan market no longer exists. The country is at last coming to this realization.
