The Government of Equatorial Guinea has responded this Saturday to recent information about an alleged coup d'état in the country, with the supposed arrival of weaponry for said operation, which would have been intercepted by the authorities.
In an official statement, the Executive "categorically rejects the information" disseminated by the French magazine 'Jeune Afrique' about "an alleged attempt of coup d'état in Equatorial Guinea" and expresses "its firmest and categorical rejection of the content of said publication," in which an attempt of insurrection that the family of President Teodoro Obiang would have "frustrated" is described.
According to the governmental text, "the publication contains accusations of extreme seriousness, attributing supposed actions to Equatorial Guinean citizens, political organizations, companies, and foreign actors, without providing objective, verifiable, and sufficient evidence to support such claims."
The Government also emphasizes that the report relies on "anonymous sources" to "construct a narrative aimed at presenting a false image of political instability and destabilization of the country."
Consequently, the Executive "formally demands" from the magazine an "immediate, public, express, and clear rectification" and warns that it reserves the right to undertake the "judicial and legal actions" it deems appropriate.
For its part, the article from 'Jeune Afrique' states that the Obiang family "claims to have thwarted an attempt at a coup d'état." According to this version, everything would have been triggered after the discovery of a container with weapons in the port of Bata, uncovered after the interception of a communication by the Russian secret services and that was supposedly intended to carry out the coup.
The magazine adds that members of the Russian mercenary group Africa Corps would have recently settled in this African country, an old Spanish colony.