U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama With World Leaders at the Metropolitan Museum in New York
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama pose for a photo during a reception at the Metropolitan Museum in New York with H.E. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, and his wife, Mrs. Constancia Mangue de Obiang, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, or promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.
Comments and faves
Republic of Equatorial Guinea added this photo to their favorites. (43 months ago)
© Jamie Mitchell (35 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Leaders of Earth, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
Dropped Pin (28 months ago | reply)
Human Rights Watch reports that Guinea is "mired in corruption, poverty, and repression under the leadership of" Obiang and that "the government regularly engages in torture and arbitrary detention." Oil revenues are distributed to the president's family and allies, with his son reportedly spending more on luxury goods between 2004 and 2007 than the country's annual education budget.
tim caffery added this photo to their favorites. (28 months ago)
mun_chien_andalusia (27 months ago | reply)
Congratulations for your friends. Obiang is a torturer and a cleptocrat.
nadawheat (27 months ago | reply)
U.S. officials declined to discuss the ongoing cases on the record or speak harshly about Equatorial Guinea; it certainly appears to be the familiar story of a U.S. government unwilling to offend an important oil partner -- the same coddling that has produced such stellar results in the past with Saudi Arabia and other energy-rich, democracy-poor Middle East allies.
Washington's accommodation of Obiang stands in marked contrast to its harsher treatment of global thugs who aren't lucky enough to be sitting atop vast energy reserves. And the relationship between the United States and Equatorial Guinea is as oily as they come.
In September 2005, the Obiang regime tortured dozens of detainees it had accused of having links to an alleged coup attempt the year before, according to credible human rights groups. Yet the following April, then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Obiang in Washington and called him a "good friend" of the United States. In September 2009, two months before Equatorial Guinea held its sham presidential election, a smiling Obama posed for a photo with Obiang during a reception at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, marking a minor PR coup for the regime.
www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/02/22/teo dorins_world
khouryp23 (20 months ago | reply)
Not cool. That man is among the worst the world has to offer. Why are we smiling and showing him any respect?
www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/02/22/teo dorins_world...
matt carroll with a camera (16 months ago | reply)
poorly framed and composed and i'm not sure that they aren't cardboard cut outs.
idrissofny added this photo to their favorites. (10 months ago)