On the Road - Equatorial Guinea HARDtalk


On the Road - Equatorial Guinea

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defending his sprinting titles. Now, HARDtalk is on the road in

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Hard Talk is on the Road in Equatorial Guinea. A tiny, oil rich

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nation in West Africa. Thence to the oil bonanza, it has one of the

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fastest-growing economies in the whole of Africa but it is also

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rated one of the most corrupt and unequal countries on the planet. At

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the centre of the extraordinary story is President Teodoro Obiang.

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The question is, when we'll we'll change come up to one of Africa's

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most notorious regimes? -- when Hot, humid and largely hidden from

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prying eyes. Equatorial Guinea is a nation of just three-quarters of a

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million people. Split between an island capital and a sparsely

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inhabited mainland. The President of styles himself as an African

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statesman. A father to his people. In reality, he, his family and his

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ruling party have kept an iron grip on this country for 33 years.

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Foreign journalists are rarely granted visas. This is not a regime

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that invites scrutiny. During our visit, we were required to travel

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in a government in the bus. The minder from the ministry was a

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constant companion. This is the face Equatorial Guinea presents to

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visitors. This resort, a few kilometres from the coast of the

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capital, was built to host an African Union summit. It was the

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President's chance to burnish his image. But now, the Convention

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Centre, the hotel and beach resort, the grand boulevards, are all

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deserted. And most eerie of all, the NT villas. Built for Africa's

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52 heads of state. -- NT. A sprawling monument to presidential

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This is the Equatorial Guinea outsiders rarely visit. More than

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half the population lives on $1 a day or less. The UN thinks life-

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expectancy is in the low 50s. An infant mortality is amongst the

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highest in Africa. --. In the country's second city, this man, a

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baker, told me of his daily reality. No piped water, week electricity

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and roads that are impassable when it rains. In Equatorial Guinea,

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fear permeates all discussion of politics. The regime has a grim

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record of suppressing opposition. Which is why this young man

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insisted on anonymity before he would talk. All of your life, you

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have known only one President. That is President Teodoro Obiang. What

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are your feelings about him? TRANSLATION: The people of

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Equatorial Guinea are suffering. Everything is very wrong here. All

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of the oil money and blogging mind is taken by the President's family.

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Other than party members, nobody else is allowed to make money.

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people in this country know that the President and his family are

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worth tens, hundreds of millions of dollars? TRANSLATION: People here

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know what is happening but nobody can say anything. No-one can put

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their hand up and say, this is bad. You just can't do that. It would be

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a mistake to do that. Not like in a liberal democracy where people can

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say what they want. But if you do that, what happens? The secret

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police will come to arrest you. Nobody would know. Your family

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would not be able to find you. If you live alone, you would just

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disappear. Many people have disappeared. It sounds to me as

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though you feel very angry and very powerless, helpless, in this

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situation? TRANSLATION: I feel angry and I am not alone. Sometimes,

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as young people sit and discuss things. None of us can see any good

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in the things that are happening. There have been attempts to

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overthrow President mac. The most infamous was laid by a British

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nursery. -- the President. Back by money, the son of the former

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British prime minister. Since the foiled coup in 2004, the President

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has routinely labelled internal dissidents as coup plotters and

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agents of foreign powers. This man is currently Equatorial Guinea's

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only opposition MP. We met him outside the country to escape the

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attentions of the government's minders. Welcome to HARDtalk. You,

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surely, have one of the toughest political jobs in the world. Just

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how difficult is it to try to lead an opposition movement inside

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 49 seconds

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How big a factor is fear? You know what prison is like in Equatorial

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Guinea. People see that and they think, if they join the opposition,

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 49 seconds

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if they express discontent, they I suppose President Teodoro

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Obiang's point would be that you were imprisoned but he would say

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things have changed a great deal since then. He has launched his

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ten-year programme of reform. He says he is committed to

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transparency, to human rights and to democracy. You are now the

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official opposition MP in the parliament. He tolerate opposition.

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He says that, right now, Equatorial Guinea is on a clear path to

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 49 seconds

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Let me ask you this. If the investor nations, particularly the

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rich Western nations, took a different attitude to him, if they

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put real pressure on him and his government to respect human rights,

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For all the criticism aimed at the regime, it does not face

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international isolation. China has moved in, with massive

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infrastructure investment. Here, we found a Chinese company laying

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electricity lines in a city. It's a very big project. Yes. I think it's

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a very big programme and we will finish. How long will it take?

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Maybe 2015. 2014. The whole job is going to finish. How many Chinese

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workers are here on this one project? For now, maybe 500 for 600.

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What is the feeling of the local people towards you? Most of them is

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friendly. But some guys... I don't know what they think. You have a

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problem with some people? Yes. But everything is OK. We can keep going.

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We can go on, no problem. For you, as a Chinese citizen and a Chinese

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worker, it seems there are many opportunities right now in

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Equatorial Guinea. Many jobs, a lot of work. It's a good place to come

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if you are Chinese? Yes. Yes, it is true. More and more Chinese are

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Payback for China comes in the form of access to precious war material.

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-- raw. Like Equatorial Guinea's hardwood timber. Swathes of the

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country's rainforest are being cut down to satisfied China's

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insatiable demand. This vessel was preparing to take 30,000 tonnes of

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Lords to Shanghai. -- logs. This is what it economy is about.

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Exploiting and exporting natural resources. The timber trade is

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worth hundreds of millions of dollars. And it is no secret that

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much of the profit goes directly into the pockets of the ruling

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family. And it is no coincidence that for years, the present's son

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served as the minister of forestry. And his father gave him the right

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to vast areas of this country's Its the oil and gas business that

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has really transformed equatorial Guinea's economy. The country is

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the third biggest producer in sub- Saharan Africa. This is the huge

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punter Europa processing plant near the capital. Here they produce

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almost 4 million tonnes of liquid natural gas every year. The vast

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majority of oil and gas production in equatorial Guinea is done by

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American companies. And they funnel many millions of dollars a year

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into the coffers of the regime. What happens to that money? Well

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that's a question now being asked by investigators working for the US

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The President's first son is at the centre of many of the allegations

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The notorious for his playboy lifestyle and extravagant shopping

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habits, he's seen his Paris mansion and his fleet of luxury cars seized

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by the French authorities. The US government is also going after

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property, a private jet, even a $2 million collection of Michael

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Jackson memorabilia... Or acquired with cash allegedly diverted from

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the state. -- all. Some of equatorial Guinea's oil wealth is

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being spent at home, but on projects which raised questions

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about the President's priorities. This vast construction side carved

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out of the country's jungle interior is just one part of an

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ambitious multi-billion-dollar plan to build a new capital city. --

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sight. This has to be one of the most extraordinary construction

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projects I have ever seen. I'm on the roof of a 450 room five-star

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luxury hotel, that comes complete with a full-size theatre, a

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convention centre, and cast out of The Jungle, an 18 ho

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golf course. -- carved. Just down the road, a new university is

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taking shape. The plan is to make it the finest in central and west

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Africa. A magnet for 8000 students. But in a tiny country with a poor

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record in primary and secondary education, will reality ever match

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the ambition? Vicente, welcome to HARDtalk. Thank you. How much, from

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beginning to completion, is this university project, let alone the

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whole city, but this university project, going to cost? I'd say

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it's about EUR200 million. To what extent is this project driven by

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the ambition, by the vision, the personal obsession, of the

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President and his family? President has been here many times.

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He is behind the project 100%. He's really the one driving the whole

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thing on. This being one of the first projects of the whole city,

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we are a symbol of everything that's going to come. If we're

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honest about it, this is a massive vanity project for him, isn't it?

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If you think how for example Brazil here was done, I'm sure they said

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the same thing. But Brazil has a population of 180 million or so,

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this country has made the 700,000 people. Do they really need a

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university that could house 8000 students? They were already got a

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university, they've got at least two University's. You have got to

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dream and if you've got the means, why not. Why not drive the country

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forward and bring people from neighbouring countries here.

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group is, most people in this country don't even get a decent

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secondary education. How could they possibly come to this state of the

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Art University? -- truth. That has to do with the way things are done

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in Africa generally. I think the priorities don't have to make any

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sense to us. But the results are here. Maybe they are not in the

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proper order and they should do some other things first. Thanks to

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oil, the President has access to vast wealth. Now he craves respect.

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He's spent millions on international public relations. His

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record, he insists, stands up to scrutiny. President, welcome to

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HARDtalk. Thank you. Mr President. There are investigators and legal

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officials in the United States, in France, who have looked at the way

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in which the state finances have been handled in this country, and

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they have reached some very negative conclusions. Legal

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documents in the United States refer to, and this is a direct

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quote, "And ongoing family criminal conspiracy", referring to you and

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your family and your handling of the oil revenues in this country.

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The French government has seized the Paris mansion, the art works,

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the cars, and is seeking legal action against your son. Are you

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prepared to see your son go to Paris and defend himself and his

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 49 seconds

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Leave aside France, what do you say to the people in your own country,

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and I have spoken to some of them, who say that you and your family

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have stolen, stolen, the resources and the assets that rightfully

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belong to all the people of this I have been very struck, because

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I've travelled around your country, the number of infrastructure

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projects, building projects, which are being run and financed by a

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Chinese companies. And the state of A final question, Mr President.

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You're already one of the longest serving leader is in the world

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today. But I also wonder how long In the heart of The Jungle, they've

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laid out the wide avenues that will be the arteries of equatorial

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