Moi chez moi: El grito de los malvados

by Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel

200 pages, Paperback

Published January 22, 2024

About the author

Juan Tomás Avila Laurel is Equatorial Guinea’s most important living writer, but he’s often been persecuted by his own state for his outspokenness regarding their blatant disregard of human rights. This week that disregard has turned dangerous, as Malabo’s infamous security forces have forced Avila Laurel, 48, into hiding for his work as activist. Avila Laurel had planned a sit-in protesting a recent wave of police brutality, and had requested official permission to stage the event, as required by national law. Soon after being denied the requested permission, Avila Laurel was informed that political party El Elefante y La Palmera [Elephant and Palm Tree], which had made the official request, had been declared dissolved by the Guinean government, and that he was one of several activists targeted for arrest without formal charges. The government crackdown centers on the political party El Elefante y la Palmera [Elephant and Palm Tree], known for its peaceful protests of police and government brutality, and is officially focused on the arrest of party founder Salvador Ebang Ela.

Reviews

[Chema Caballero · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘Dios es una invención’. Religión y política van de la mano para controlar a la población. Los dictadores se comportan como ‘Moi chez moi’, yo en mi casa, para hacer lo que quieran. Una conversación entre dos desconocidos en un bar de Malabo, un guineano de origen annobonés y la historia de su padre, un francés experto en los galileos. Y una conclusión: ‘La libertad de culto no es lo que necesita Guinea, sino la del pensamiento libre […] no se puede recurrir a Dios para resolver los asuntos de urgencia, y este país sí que tiene muchos asuntas de urgencia que resolver’. Muy interesante lectura.