What Happened Previously Concerning the Sahrawi Cause

Trump's Declaration

We begin our journey by providing a brief synopsis of what happened during the summer regarding the Sahrawi cause to ensure that everyone is aware of everything relevant to the new political path, which we will soon begin to collect.

WE CONTEXTUALISE: After the declaration of US President Donald Trump, recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara as a counterpart for Morocco to make public and official relations with Israel (Abraham Accords), Morocco has continued to pressure as many countries as it could to support the United States. Although John Biden's Democratic administration has not officially rectified that recognition, it appears that steps have been taken to prevent his administration from being accused of violating international legality.

Europe

For the umpteenth time, Morocco used immigration as a weapon to pressure Spain. With some suspicious Pegasus movements, Pedro Sánchez decides to change 40 years of political consensus. He sent a letter to Mohamed VI (about which the King was pleased to announce its content), convincing him that Spain considered the autonomy of Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty as the "most serious, realistic, and credible solution" to end the conflict.

Apart from being celebrated, this truth has not been well received by the entire parliamentary arc (some for the forms and others for the context), including a few socialist members who did not understand this 180-degree flip that contradicts the founding principles of their party.

They might have thought this would have been overlooked due to other important internal issues that may have been of greater importance to the public, but what they seemed not to expect was the anger of Algeria. Algeria immediately called its ambassador for consultations and broke the ties of friendship, good neighbourliness, and cooperation. This led to a gap in commercial relations between the two countries at the time of the Ukrainian war, which had put Algeria and its gas as a target for European powers.

Although the supply to Spain is guaranteed, renewing the gas contract is trouble for Naturgy, watching how Italy, France, and Germany have agreements with this African potential. As a result, Sánchez acknowledged in Germany his desire to visit Algeria, something that the neighboring country will not accept until the Spanish president makes it clear that Western Sahara does not belong to Morocco and thus returns to the path of legitimacy. Josep Borrell, the High Representative for EU Foreign Affairs, apparently tried to get in touch with Algeria, defending that the Sahrawi people should have a say about their future. Still, Minister Albares criticized with dynamite what Algeria and the Polisario Front welcomed as something positive and later punished Nasser Bourita by cancelling the scheduled meeting with Borrell for September.

Latin America

On the other side of the pond, July began with the presence of the Andean parliament in Morocco, where he held one of his plenary sessions and whose trip included a visit to the occupied city of Dakhla. As we know, Morocco frequently seeks to move events, congresses, and institutional visits to the occupied territory to show support for its sovereignty. The Spanish Moroccan investment forum held in the same occupied city, where several business groups backed the occupation, is evidence of this.

In August, the new Colombian government of Gustavo Petro re-established diplomatic ties with the SADR that the previous administration had suspended in 2021. This fact set Moroccan diplomacy to work, who attempted to downplay the news by getting the Peruvian Foreign Minister, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Mackay (a recognized friend of Morocco), to withdraw his country's recognition of the SADR and break all relations with it.

Africa

To wrap up everything that summer offered to us (which was a lot), we move on to the region. Moroccan diplomacy does not stop working at any time, despite the blows it has received this summer have been numerous and significant.

In June, there was an unusual incident at the Melilla fence, which resulted in the deaths of scores of migrants at the hands of the Moroccan border forces and Spanish police, while the precise number is still unknown. These images have given the world a second look and have called into question agreements between the EU and Morocco. They receive billions of dollars each year to do the dirty work of a fortress that carefully selects which people can or cannot seek asylum based on their circumstances.

In addition, the UN-recorded convictions against Morocco for forcing them to sign confessions under torture and the devastating Human Rights Watch report showing the persecutions and arrests carried out by the Moroccan regime against opposition activists and journalists.

But not only do these people have problems with the Moroccan regime, but the UN secretary-general's special envoys have already suffered from the kingdom's demands. At the beginning of July, De Mistura visited Rabat and then finally traveled to the occupied territory of the Western Sahara. These pretensions were truncated because Morocco did not allow the visit. After all, De Mistura did not agree to comply with the plan the occupying authority had prepared for him. Thus, after meeting with several Moroccan leaders, he left the territory.

Mohamed VI made it clear in his speech during the anniversary of the revolution of the king and the people that "the question of Western Sahara determines their friendship with countries." This statement has served as an excuse to justify a diplomatic crisis with Tunisia for having received the president of the SADR, Brahim Ghali, at the TICAD (Tokyo International Summit for the Development of Africa) between the African Union and Japan held in Tunisia. The two countries withdrew their ambassadors from the neighboring country, and Tunisia called Morocco's actions and words "unacceptable." It must be remembered that the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is a founder and a full member of the African Union.