Equatorial Guinea Obiang Mangue, and other close relatives with powerful positions in the security forces. The tension may be rooted in a power shift arising from the dramatic increase in oil production which has occurred since 1997. In 2004 a plane load of suspected mercenaries was intercepted in Zimbabwe while allegedly on the way to overthrow Obiang. A November 2004 report named Mark Thatcher as a financial backer of the 2004 Equatorial Guinea coup d'état attempt organized by Simon Mann. Various accounts also named the United Kingdom's MI6, the United States' CIA, and Spain as tacit supporters of the coup attempt. Nevertheless,
Supreme Military Council (Equatorial Guinea) Supreme Military Council (Equatorial Guinea) The Supreme Military Council (, CMS) — initially called the Military Revolutionary Council (, CMR) — was the ruling military junta and the "de facto" government of Equatorial Guinea between the 1979 coup d'état and the 1982 constitutional referendum. On 3 August 1979, President Francisco Macías Nguema was overthrown in a military coup d'état led by a group of officers who attended the General Military Academy in Zaragoza, among them Eulogio Oyó Riqueza, Vice President Bonifacio Nguema Esono Nchama, fallen from grace and the main responsible for the establishment of Cuban influence in Equatorial Guinea,