New in the ‘bu

WEALTHY MALIBU residents may not realize it, but they have an unusual new neighbor. Mel, Cher, Barbra -- meet Teodoro, heir apparent to one of the most corrupt and repressive regimes in Africa.

Earlier this year, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangu, eldest son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, bought a $35-million Malibu mansion complete with ocean views, pool and a four-hole golf course. The purchase attracted the notice of Global Witness, an anti-corruption watchdog, because Obiang’s official salary as minister of agriculture and forests is only $5,000 a month.

That’s a fortune by the standards of his country, where most people get by on less than $2 a day. But it won’t get you very far in the California real estate market, and it sure doesn’t buy $35-million palaces in Malibu.

Equatorial Guinea is hard to find on a map, but it pulls its weight in international scandal. The deeply impoverished country of 540,000, which is about the size of Maryland, made headlines in 2003 when President Obiang was discovered to have stashed about $700 million in ill-gotten oil proceeds at Riggs Bank in Washington.

U.S. companies are likely complicit in the corrupt practices of Equatorial Guinea’s ruling family. The nation’s poverty persists despite the fact that the country is the third-largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa. The regime, a military dictatorship thinly disguised as a democracy, is guilty of serious and well-documented human rights abuses. In 2003, the Bush administration reestablished an embassy there that had been shuttered in 1995 because of concerns over human rights and corruption; the oil sector is made up almost entirely of U.S. companies.

Even if the Bush administration investigated the oil companies doing business there, Equatorial Guinea’s people probably would continue to suffer, because the moment any Americans pull out, the Chinese likely would pour in.

Still, the U.S. should continue to lead by example, both for the sake of what passes for a business climate in Equatorial Guinea and so there will be firmer ground to stand on when criticizing China for cozying up to oil-rich African dictatorships. As for Malibu’s newest resident, Teodoro, we can only advise neighbors that if he shows up at the door asking to borrow some sugar, don’t expect him to return the cup.