Tomás Ávila Laurel vs Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea

On 11 February in Equatorial Guinea, a writer by the name of Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel embarked on a hunger strike to claim justice and democracy for his people, too. The despotic ruler of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang, has been in power since seizing it from his uncle Francisco Macías, another dictator who took power after the country gained independence from Spain. Massively rich in crude oil, the wealth of the nation lies in the hands of a minority elite while most Guineans suffer the indignities of hardship, repression and an appalling record on human rights – not to mention one of the lowest levels of development in Africa. Oil companies do business with the likes of Obiang and family, who are well served by the income generated from the country's rich natural resources. To quote Human Rights Watch, the "dictatorship under President Obiang has used an oil boom to entrench and enrich itself further at the expense of the country's people''.