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José Epita Mbomo, a Spanish electrician who sabotaged the Nazis

english.elpais.com

21–30 of 45 posts

Re: José Epita Mbomo, a Spanish electrician who sabotaged the Nazis

#21
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Opposition politicians routinely seek refuge or meet in Spain without any trouble. If anything they decry the "hands off" stance of Spain, hardly the same as a "de facto colony" situation. And care to hear what do they have to say? There's hardly any journalists willing to interview them. Mostly Xavier Montanyà that I know of. When asked "what could Spain do more for Guinea?" they invariably answer "to begin with,…

My late grandmother worked with Atanasio Mdongo as part of his inner circle before his assassination, and later had to work for Macías Nguema. She was Bubi, working for a dictator that was carrying out a Bubi genocide. My mother escaped death a few times and eventually was smuggled out of the country to Spain. From what I know, journalists were indeed interested (in the 80s and 90s) but trauma and fear of repercussio…

> Do you or anyone in your family keep in touch with E. Guinea in any way?

We have relatives that have returned, and we've kept in touch with some that never left. My mother last visited in the late 80s* but we always talk of returning now that things are less volatile.

We do keep in touch amongst each other in the diaspora however, so everyone shares the news from back home in some sort of network effect, and we get to hear "how things are going" (apparently quite well since there's crude oil!).

Edit: correction.

Re: José Epita Mbomo, a Spanish electrician who sabotaged the Nazis

#22
post #21
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My late grandmother worked with Atanasio Mdongo as part of his inner circle before his assassination, and later had to work for Macías Nguema. She was Bubi, working for a dictator that was carrying out a Bubi genocide. My mother escaped death a few times and eventually was smuggled out of the country to Spain. From what I know, journalists were indeed interested (in the 80s and 90s) but trauma and fear of repercussio…

> Do you or anyone in your family keep in touch with E. Guinea in any way? We have relatives that have returned, and we've kept in touch with some that never left. My mother last visited in the late 80s* but we always talk of returning now that things are less volatile. We do keep in touch amongst each other in the diaspora however, so everyone shares the news from back home in some sort of network effect, and we get…

Wasn't that the oil income wasn't really redistributed, but kept by the elites? I heard there was some real state being built and such, but there wasn't really much improvement for most.

Is still Fernando Poo more developed than the continent?

I'm sorry if this isn't accurate, that's what I've been told from (presumably) other E. Guineans in the internet.

Re: José Epita Mbomo, a Spanish electrician who sabotaged the Nazis

#23

“I can’t say for sure, but it is likely that he participated in all that,” says his grandson, Yvan Mbomo, who has formed a picture of his grandfather as a communist of such firm convictions that he put the fight for his ideals before his family’s safety and his own. I guess we should celebrate that he was a fan of the right kind of murderous authoritarian ideology.

We shouldn't celebrate any particular ideologies but we should celebrate the fact that José Epita had peoples best interest at heart and tried to change it for the better. Please note that nowhere in the article communism is actually celebrated, not even in the snippet you posted. So not sure why you got that takeaway.

He didn't had the effort to read the article. If not, he will found this :

> "In 1968, Epita tore up his communist membership card while watching Soviet tanks crush the Prague Spring on TV."

Every body should remember that one thing it's communism and other authoritarian communism regimes. I'm pro-communist, but I'm against any kind of authoritarian government (and so, I see Stalin as a hideous dictator like was Hitler or Franco). And isn't something incompatible, as I believe that some kind of communist democratic government can be possible.

Re: José Epita Mbomo, a Spanish electrician who sabotaged the Nazis

#24

“I can’t say for sure, but it is likely that he participated in all that,” says his grandson, Yvan Mbomo, who has formed a picture of his grandfather as a communist of such firm convictions that he put the fight for his ideals before his family’s safety and his own. I guess we should celebrate that he was a fan of the right kind of murderous authoritarian ideology.

Come on man, right at the beginning of the article:

> He was an active communist back when communism was almost a religion, but tore up his party membership card when the Soviet Union crushed the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia.

Re: José Epita Mbomo, a Spanish electrician who sabotaged the Nazis

#25
post #22
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Do you or anyone in your family keep in touch with E. Guinea in any way? We have relatives that have returned, and we've kept in touch with some that never left. My mother last visited in the late 80s* but we always talk of returning now that things are less volatile. We do keep in touch amongst each other in the diaspora however, so everyone shares the news from back home in some sort of network effect, and we get…

Wasn't that the oil income wasn't really redistributed, but kept by the elites? I heard there was some real state being built and such, but there wasn't really much improvement for most. Is still Fernando Poo more developed than the continent? I'm sorry if this isn't accurate, that's what I've been told from (presumably) other E. Guineans in the internet.

As far as I know, that is correct. However, apart from real estate being built, there also seems to be some heavy investment in infrastructure and they're trying to attract investors. I've also heard that there are plans to grow the tourism sector. The elite has also grown in numbers and there seems to be a growing middle class (mostly Fang diaspora going back) with connections to the regime.

I don't know what the real situation is and what they plan to do with the new wealth, but if I'm to speculate, the elite wants to develop the country and transform the economy so that they can keep a certain standard of living, because the oil reserves were never thought to last that long (however, I've heard of new possible deposits being found, not sure if there's any truth to that).

Re: José Epita Mbomo, a Spanish electrician who sabotaged the Nazis

#26
post #3

Nice story. To this day many Spaniards are unaware that Ecuatorial Guinea is a former colony. My memories from High school are that we glanced over it.

The rest of the Spanish-speaking world is unaware, too. I am foreigner who learned Spanish of Spain, and when traveling in Latin America the locals have often made fun of me for using the vosotros form of verbs. "There are umpteen Spanish-speaking countries, and only one says vosotros ," they'd say. "Not true!" I would try to defend myself. "They use vosotros in Western Sahara and Equatorial Guinea, too!" (On my firs…

They use vosotros in Colombia as well, specifically in Medellín and a couple of other places in the "coffee axis," i.e as far out as Manizales.

Re: José Epita Mbomo, a Spanish electrician who sabotaged the Nazis

#27
post #25
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wasn't that the oil income wasn't really redistributed, but kept by the elites? I heard there was some real state being built and such, but there wasn't really much improvement for most. Is still Fernando Poo more developed than the continent? I'm sorry if this isn't accurate, that's what I've been told from (presumably) other E. Guineans in the internet.

As far as I know, that is correct. However, apart from real estate being built, there also seems to be some heavy investment in infrastructure and they're trying to attract investors. I've also heard that there are plans to grow the tourism sector. The elite has also grown in numbers and there seems to be a growing middle class (mostly Fang diaspora going back) with connections to the regime. I don't know what the re…

I see, thanks. I'm sorry for the amount of questions, but I'm very curious!

Do you see the ruling elite technically qualified for such leap? And if they are not themselves, are they hiring adequate decision makers, engineers and such?

Also, is there an education system in place (or in advanced planning) that allows to grow local technical talent?

Re: José Epita Mbomo, a Spanish electrician who sabotaged the Nazis

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We shouldn't celebrate any particular ideologies but we should celebrate the fact that José Epita had peoples best interest at heart and tried to change it for the better. Please note that nowhere in the article communism is actually celebrated, not even in the snippet you posted. So not sure why you got that takeaway.

He didn't had the effort to read the article. If not, he will found this : > "In 1968, Epita tore up his communist membership card while watching Soviet tanks crush the Prague Spring on TV." Every body should remember that one thing it's communism and other authoritarian communism regimes. I'm pro-communist, but I'm against any kind of authoritarian government (and so, I see Stalin as a hideous dictator like was Hitl…

> I'm pro-communist, but I'm against any kind of authoritarian government

Communism necessarily implies authoritarian government. What you think you believe in is a false utopianism due to a lack of erudition.

Re: José Epita Mbomo, a Spanish electrician who sabotaged the Nazis

#29

“I can’t say for sure, but it is likely that he participated in all that,” says his grandson, Yvan Mbomo, who has formed a picture of his grandfather as a communist of such firm convictions that he put the fight for his ideals before his family’s safety and his own. I guess we should celebrate that he was a fan of the right kind of murderous authoritarian ideology.

Come on man, right at the beginning of the article: > He was an active communist back when communism was almost a religion, but tore up his party membership card when the Soviet Union crushed the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia.

> He was an active communist back when communism was almost a religion

You mean, exactly like fascism? Pictures / visits to concentration camps had the effect on the nazis that the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia had on communists. Funny how neither the Holodomor nor the Chinese cultural revolution nor the Killing Fields moved the needle much.

He fought for his homeland, and later saw the errors of his ways. I can respect that.

Re: José Epita Mbomo, a Spanish electrician who sabotaged the Nazis

#30

“I can’t say for sure, but it is likely that he participated in all that,” says his grandson, Yvan Mbomo, who has formed a picture of his grandfather as a communist of such firm convictions that he put the fight for his ideals before his family’s safety and his own. I guess we should celebrate that he was a fan of the right kind of murderous authoritarian ideology.

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