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Thousands of people have demonstrated this Saturday in front of the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Madrid, to protest against the turn of the Government of Pedro Sánchez on Western Sahara. Eight days ago, Spain announced its support for the Moroccan autonomy proposal for the former Spanish colony.
Between numerous flags of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic and in an act organized by the Movement in Solidarity with the Saharawi People, about 2,000 people took to the streets of Madrid to reject the decision of the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, to put an end to Spain’s neutrality with respect to Western Sahara.
With the aim of calling for the self-determination of this former Spanish colony, the attendees chanted in one voice slogans such as “Sánchez, pay attention, the Sahara is not for sale”, and “Sahara freedom, Polisario will win”, in reference to the Polisario Front, which defends the independence of Western Sahara.
“The decision of the Executive does not agree with the traditional position of Spain and does not represent the feeling of broad solidarity of Spanish society with the Saharawi people, while contradicting international law,” said Abdulah Arabi, delegate of the Polisario Front for Spain.
Despite being an ally of the Government in the ruling coalition, the event was attended by representatives of parties such as the radical left formation United We Can.
“It is very serious to side with the occupier, who violates human rights against the judgments of the Court of the European Union, against the resolutions of the United Nations and defending the law of the strongest,” said the Podemos spokeswoman. , Isa Serra, adding that the new position is “inadmissible” and “unjustifiable”.
The tensions between Madrid and Rabat
Since the departure of the Spaniards from Western Sahara in 1975, Morocco annexed this territory, largely desert and with phosphate deposits and waters abundant in marine fauna. The African country took advantage of the fragility of Madrid in the last moments of the dictatorship to take the territory as its own.
Rabat, the city that controls almost 80% of this territory, proposes an autonomy plan under its sovereignty, while the Polisario calls for a self-determination referendum, planned when a ceasefire was signed in 1991, but which was never carried out. cape.
In April 2021, a diplomatic crisis was triggered when Spain received the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, a sworn enemy of Rabat, to be treated for Covid-19 on Spanish soil.
Just a few months later, nearly 10,000 immigrants of Moroccan origin arrived in the European country after the relaxation of border surveillance on the Moroccan side, something that redoubled the tension in Madrid, which saw a growing vulnerability on its borders.
Now the protesters worry that Spain has given in to pressure from Morocco. “The Saharawis have been the bargaining chip for the interests of the Moroccan kingdom,” she tells France 24 Salomé Brahim, a 28-year-old saleswoman from Valladolid.
Western Sahara is the only territory in Africa pending resolution of its decolonization. In October 2021, the UN published a resolution calling for “a realistic, viable, lasting solution” and “acceptable by the parties”.
With EFE and Reuters
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