Mr. Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Don Angel Seriche Dougan, representing the Government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.

Ladies and Gentlemen, friends, all.

It is a great honor for my wife Nickie, our sons Seth and Ian, and me to have you in what has been our home for the past three years as we take leave from you.

I would like to begin by publicly expressing my appreciation to President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo for having received me for a farewell call last week in Bata.  It was an interesting and useful discussion.  I would also like to thank the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation for inviting me to a farewell dinner tomorrow evening.  We look forward to it.

How does one sum up three years as the American Ambassador in Equatorial Guinea?  What was the agenda?  What were the results?  Perhaps it is best to begin at the beginning, with a few observations that I made at the swearing-in ceremony of 16 Peace Corps Volunteers on October 19, 1991, one month after my arrival...

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