Edmundo Bossio Explained

Edmundo Bossio
Office:1st Vice President of Equatorial Guinea
Term Start:12 October 1968
Term End:2 March 1974
President:Francisco Macías Nguema
Predecessor:Position established
Successor:Miguel Eyegue
Office1:Procurator of the Cortes Españolas
Term Start1:1967
Term End1:1971
President1:Antonio Iturmendi Bañales
Alejandro Rodríguez de Valcárcel
Birth Name:Edmundo Bossio Dioko
Birth Date:22 November 1922
Birth Place:Rebola,, Spanish Guinea
Death Place:Black Beach prison, Malabo, Bioko Norte, Equatorial Guinea
Party:United National Workers' Party
Otherparty: (1967–1970)
Awards: Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit (1968)[1]

Edmundo Bossio Dioko (Rebola, 22 November 1922[2]Malabo, 21 February 1975),[3] was an Equatoguinean farmer[4] [5] and politician, first Vice President of Equatorial Guinea after the independence of the country. He was characterized by the defense of the interests of the Bubi sociocultural group.

Biography

He was born on 22 November 1922 in Rebola on Fernando Poo Island, where he began his primary studies to later graduate as a primary school teacher. In his youth he was assigned to the Río Muni Province to practice his profession in different locations, where he would also graduate in teaching. After his return to Fernando Poo, he dedicated much of his time to competing with the Spanish landowners in the exploitation of his family's cocoa plantations, to which he joined others on a lease basis.[6]

In October 1962, he was awarded the Silver Medal of the Order of Africa by Luis Carrero Blanco.[7]

Between August 1966 and April 1967 he became one of the main representatives of Bubi nationalism, as president of the Agrarian Chamber of Fernando Poo, while performing the function of procurator in the Cortes Españolas, since in the elections held in the on 16 November 1967 he obtained 4,125 votes out of 6,731 cast.[8] He participated in the (1967–1968) that drafted the 1968 Constitution of Equatorial Guinea.

He led the formation of the group, which later became a political party, with which he obtained 5,000 votes in the first round of the September 1968 presidential elections.

Supporter of the self-determination of Bioko Island or, failing that, of its integration as a state within a federation, he nevertheless supported the IPGE party of Francisco Macías Nguema against its main adversary, the party of Bonifacio Ondó Edú.

He was the first vice president[9] of the recently formed Republic of Equatorial Guinea, taking office on 12 October 1968. He maintained a strong friendship with President Macías.[10] After the establishment of the dictatorship in 1969, Bossio did not suffer any type of retaliation. He frequently took charge of government functions when Macías traveled outside the country.

On 2 March 1974, Bossio was removed from office and replaced by Miguel Eyegue.

At the end of 1974, he was investigated by the Information Services (after an official portrait of Macías posted on the door of his home was destroyed)[11] and subjected to house arrest. According to allegations by the Guinean opposition in exile, the portrait incident was actually orchestrated by regime officials.[12] Bossio was arrested and summarily executed in the Black Beach prison on 21 February 1975. His death was officially justified as a suicide by barbiturate overdose.[13]

References

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado. Boletín Oficial del Estado. 291. 4 December 1968. es. Decreto 2989/1968, de 30 de noviembre, por el que se concede la Gran Cruz de la Orden del Mérito Civil al señor Edmundo Bossio Dioco. 0212-033X. 17378.
  2. Revista La Guinea Ecuatorial, número 1.630, octubre-noviembre de 1968, páginas 19–21, Depósito Legal: F.P.-10-1959 (PDF).
  3. Web site: Lacosta. Xavier. Cronología de Guinea Ecuatorial: 1950 / 1979 De la independencia al juicio contra Macías. Spanish. 31 January 2024.
  4. Book: Mansueto Nsí Owono – Okomo. EL PROCESO POLÍTICO DE GUINEA ECUATORIAL. Spanish. 2014. edit.um. 978-84-695-9920-4.
  5. Web site: "Historia y legado de la descolonización española en Guinea Ecuatorial". Conferencia pronunciada por Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo en La Casa de Colón en Las Palmas de Gran Canaria el 26 de abril de 2016. Spanish. 15 February 2017. 31 January 2024.
  6. News: Edmundo Bosio Dioko, un político de pactos. Número especial de "La Verdad", órgano de prensa de CPDS, sobre los 50 años de Independencia de Guinea Ecuatorial. CPDS. ASODEGUE. Spanish. 13 November 2018. 31 January 2024.
  7. Revista La Guinea Ecuatorial, número 1.630, octubre-noviembre de 1968, página 24, Depósito Legal: F.P.-10-1959 (PDF).
  8. Decreto 1849/1967, de 18 de agosto, por el que se convocan elecciones de Procuradores en Cortes representantes de la familia por cada una de las provincias. (BOE núm. 203, de 25 de agosto de 1967). http://www.congreso.es/portal/page/portal/Congreso/Congreso/SDocum/ArchCon/SDHistoDipu/SDIndHistDip?_piref73_1340024_73_1340023_1340023.next_page=/wc/servidorCGI&CMD=VERLST&BASE=DIPH&FMT=DIPHXD1S.fmt&DOCS=1-1&DOCORDER=FIFO&OPDEF=Y&NUM1=&DES1=&QUERY=%2816680%29.NDIP.
  9. En esa época Luis Sorizo cantaba por los pueblos de -todavía- Fernando Poo: «La independencia ha traído una novedad./¡Viva!/Bailemos por Guinea./Somos ya independientes./Es bueno, que el presidente haya sido Macías./El vicepresidente es Edmundo Bosió,/es bueno, que haya sido bubi.» en Mi voz y mi guitarra-El legado de Luis Sorizo. Irene Yambá Jora et José Francisco Eteo Sorizo, 2012.
  10. Web site: ALBUM DE FOTOS DE D. FORTUNATO OKENVE MITUY. Spanish. 31 January 2024.
  11. News: Macías justificaba los asesinatos por apaleamientos como "suicidios". El País. Spanish. 9 August 1979. 31 January 2024.
  12. News: El lobo que se ha escondido dentro de la oposición. Radio Macuto. Spanish. 18 April 2018. 31 January 2024.
  13. Book: Liniger-Goumaz, Max. La Guinee Equatoriale. Un pays méconnu. L´ Harmattan. French. 83. 1979. 31 January 2024. 9782858021321.