Self-taught illustrator Ramón Esono Ebalé, alias Jamón y Queso, is from the sovereign African state Equatorial Guinea. He lives and works in Paraguay. Using his passion for drawing as a tool to resist the dictatorial regime of his country, he has won several international awards and competitions. Ebalé’s art has been shown in exhibitions worldwide, including Cameroon, Madrid, Paraguay and Florida.

He gained popularity and infamy through his scathing blog ‘Las locuras de jamon y queso’, in which he posted opinion pieces about the Equatoguinean government. The blog is blocked in Equatorial Guinea.

Ebalé’s talent shines through not only in drawings full of political satire but also in rich, thought-provoking images that can keep you searching and discovering.

His work has caught dangerous political attention. He lived in Paraguay from 2011 until July 2017 and decided to move to El Salvador. He first had to travel to Equatorial Guinea to renew his passport, he was detained and interrogated for apparently false charges of money laundering and counterfeiting. Though it was not officially acknowledged, the real reason for his detainment is generally thought to be slander against the Guinean president, Teodoro Obiang. A focus point in his interrogation was his critical graphic novel ‘The Nightmare of Obi’. In it, the president suddenly wakes up a normal person in his own country, to suffer the consequences of the regime he has created himself.

Ebalé was awarded the Courage in Cartooning Award in November by the Cartoonists Rights Network International. This led human rights groups to urgently appeal for his release, to the government of Equatorial Guinea. After being detained for six months, Ebalé was acquitted and released in March 2018. After that, it took him a further three months to obtain the correct travel documents and be allowed to leave the country.