Lanny Davis, who was President Bill Clinton's legal bulldog, is fronting a $2.1M, 18-month effort to burnish the reputation of Equatorial Guinea, the oil-rich African state (Chevron, ExxonMobil) rife with human rights violations.
[Clinton closed the U.S. Embassy in EG to protest rampant corruption, and abuse.]
President Tedoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
Photo: Wikimedia
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Assisted by former CNN reporter Eileen O'Connor, Davis promises to showcase the efforts of EG President Tedoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who seized power via a military coup, to "improve the quality of lives of the people of EG and specifically to improve relations with the U.S. and encourage tourism, trade and investment, such as in medical research, energy and infrastructure," according to the engagement contract penned by Davis/O'Connor.
Davis/O'Connor will counsel Obiang, who has been in power since 1979, as he works on a program to promote political, legal, economic reform, plus "the rule of law, democracy, an independent judiciary and a free press."
The duo plans to pitch print, cable, broadcast and websites on behalf of EG, plus "social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter."
Non-governmental organizations like the Carter Center, American Bar Assn., National Democratic Institute and International Center for Journalists are slated for development.
The agreement calls for Obiang to "kindly and graciously" make himself "available for consultation on the telephone as promptly as possible when it is vital and necessary" and available for a regularly scheduled strategy call at least once a month.
Davis/O'Connor is supported by staffers at McDermott Will & Emery. The image work was originally pitched as a campaign costing $3.7M, but was slashed by 30 percent after EG objected to the "high cost."
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