The Trump administration is preparing to issue a rare waiver that will temporarily lift corruption sanctions against Equatorial Guinea’s vice president, Teodoro “Teddy” Nguema Obiang. The move would allow him to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York this month and even travel to other American cities, despite his long record of corruption allegations.
According to two officials familiar with the matter, the State Department is finalizing a one-month waiver on the grounds of “US national interest.” Behind the decision, they say, is Washington’s push to blunt China’s rising influence in the West African nation and to safeguard American energy investments there.
Obiang, the son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo—Africa’s longest-serving ruler—has for years been dogged by accusations of plundering state wealth. Prosecutors across the world have linked him to luxury mansions, sports cars, yachts, and extravagant spending sprees.
In 2017, a French court convicted him of embezzling millions, imposed a €30 million fine, and seized a fleet of supercars. South African courts confiscated two villas and a yacht just last year, after a torture case brought by a citizen. In the United States, he settled a corruption lawsuit in 2014 by giving up $30 million in assets, including a Malibu mansion, a Ferrari, and Michael Jackson memorabilia. At the time, US prosecutors described him as engaging in “relentless embezzlement and extortion” while most of his country lived in poverty.
That poverty remains stark. Despite billions in oil revenue, about 70 percent of Equatorial Guinea’s nearly two million people live below the poverty line. President Obiang has ruled since 1979 and controls the nation with an iron grip, while his son Teddy oversees defense and security—making him the likely successor.
For Washington, however, the issue isn’t only about corruption. Officials say Beijing is pushing to establish a naval base in Equatorial Guinea, its first on the Atlantic coast, while Russia is stepping up engagement. A senior US official explained that the waiver “builds goodwill with Obiang, blunts Russia’s expanding influence, and helps secure the position of American oil and gas firms.”
In past years, Obiang’s US travel was tightly restricted, limited to New York City during UN events—something that reportedly humiliated him. This waiver would let him visit Miami and Los Angeles, where he has owned property and parked luxury cars. The State Department has declined to publicly comment, while requests for reaction from Equatorial Guinea’s government have gone unanswered.
The decision comes at a time when Washington is doubling down on sanctions elsewhere. Palestinian Authority officials were denied visas to the UN, Iran and Brazil face fresh restrictions, and Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro is not expected at the gathering after a US military strike on a Venezuelan vessel accused of drug trafficking.
The waiver for Obiang shines a light on the competing forces in US foreign policy: denouncing corruption abroad versus securing geopolitical advantage. Whether this is a one-off concession or the start of a softer approach toward Malabo is unclear. But for now, the message is unmistakable—the US is willing to set aside corruption pressure when the bigger contest with China and Russia is at stake.
