There was a "coup d'état" in Equatorial Guinea in 1979 – Francisco Macías Nguema, the left-wing dictator, was overthrown and killed by his nephew, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo the right-wing President. In 2004, in a copycat plan based on Forsyth's book, a "coup d'état" intended to secure lucrative mining rights granted by a client puppet government was attempted. The plan involved Mark Thatcher, who was intending to trade on his mother's (former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher) connections and reputation to call favours, and the mercenary Simon Mann, who subsequently stood trial and was convicted. Thatcher received a suspended 4-year sentence; Mann was sentenced to 34 years in 2008 but was pardoned in 2009.