The main thesis of this work is that political stability in Equatorial Guinea is fundamentally a result of an existing political culture characterized, among other things, by an ethos of self-repression. This political culture has made it possible for a technically and ideologically feeble regime to remain in power for three decades. In a country with a population of only half a million people, where civil society is almost non-existent; and family obligations carry a significant weight; this political culture makes any type of
political change very difficult. I will try to show how the Obiang Nguema regime has encouraged a system of societal selfrepression, which has become the most effective tool for socio-political control in Equatorial Guinea, and the fundamental obstacle to political change