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Ambassador Niels Marquardt: U.S. Independence Day Remarks

Malabo, Equatorial Guinea
July 8, 2005

View of  invitees to the 4th July Celebration. Full size.

Your Excellency President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Excellencies, Ministers, Members of Government, Excellencies, Ambassadors and members of the Diplomatic Corps, Representatives of International Organizations, Distinguished Guests, Fellow Americans, Ladies and Gentlemen:

On behalf of myself and the entire American embassy staff here in Malabo and on mission with me from Yaoundé, welcome to our celebration of the 229th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which took place on July 4, 1776.

We are pleased to have organized this celebration here at the newly-reopened Embassy in Malabo Residence. We continue to work hard to re-establish an official American presence in Equatorial Guinea that is equal to our important interests here.

You have my promise: there is no higher priority for us, and we will continue the step-by-step process of adding staff and increasing functions. We realize fully that the processing of visas is perhaps the most important function that we do not yet offer. Over the coming year, I hope to have good news for you on that important issue.

While our presence here is small, there should be no doubt about our interest in this important country. With our terrific staff here in Malabo and with frequent missions from Yaoundé, we are engaged in Equatorial Guinea on issues across the spectrum of our relationship. We value our relations with Equatorial Guinea and are pleased that they are excellent and indeed, growing closer.

I personally had the pleasure of accompanying his Excellency President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo on his June visit to Baltimore and Washington. In both cities, the President was well-received. Among both business and government leaders, he made an excellent impression and called effective attention to further opportunities to strengthen our relationship. I look forward to working with the Government of Equatorial Guinea to realize those opportunities.

I would also like to applaud the President and his government for the decree – signed on July 4 of all days – creating a Social Development Fund for his country. Many of us were present yesterday at the ceremony here in Malabo launching that Fund, and many of us will be involved in working further on this important initiative.

Let me now turn to a bit of American history on the occasion of our Independence Day. America's long history as a democracy did not begin exactly on July 4, 1776, but we often look to that date as a key turning point in our evolution from a series of colonies and territories -- British, French, Spanish, Russian, even Danish -- to become the Republic we are today. Viewed in retrospect, it can often seem that our democratic development happened overnight in 1776. It, of course, did not.

The reality for us, as for all counties engaged in transitions to democracy, is that this transition never really end - and certainly did not occur as a singular event in history. Indeed, democracy is a process, not an event. If 1776 was a decisive year for American and the world, it was only one moment in a long and continuing process.

Our difficult but ultimately successful war for Independence took seven years. For our first 11 years as a struggling new nation, we had a weak, dysfunctional central government that was only changed in 1787 after a Constitutional Convention convened to create the federal system we know today.

Our first President assumed power fully 13 years after the Declaration of Independence was signed. We fought another war with our former colonial power almost 40 years later. Because we failed to deal with difficult issues of state's rights and slavery at the time of our independence, we fought a bloody civil war 90 years later to settle those matters, re-unify our nation, and give full legal rights to African-Americans.

We waited another 55 years before giving the vote to women in our country. And in the 140 years since our Civil War ended, we have moved forward in steps large and small to truly ensure civil and human rights to all our people, fight the scourge of corruption, and reconcile differences among our many minorities to truly become the nation we dream to be.

In our country, as in all democracies, the process of becoming truly democratic will continue, and will demand the full participation of all citizens to realize its full potential.

I'd like to close this section by reading a few words from our Declaration of Independence. These words were truly revolutionary when written 229 years ago, but today are seen as valid and universal. We hope these words will continue to inspire peoples across the globe as they too strive to perfect the democracies in their own countries:

I quote: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed. End quote.

Before closing, allow me to recognize and thanks the following private sector partners here in Equatorial Guinea who have contributed generously with funding to help us make this celebration possible: Amerada Hess Corporation Atlantic Methonal Production Company Chevron Texaco Dowell Schlumberger Marathon Oil Mobil Equatorial Guinea Inc.

The company BBC also contributed some of the decorations you see.

And special thanks to the Island Rhythm Band, for bringing us a taste of fun American culture today.

• Thank you all for your attention.
• Enjoy our Fiesta Nacional!