Participants in a recent seminar in Mexico on relations between Morocco and Latin American countries highlighted the growing international support for Morocco’s legitimate rights over its Southern provinces and the autonomy plan as the only solution to end the regional dispute over the Sahara.
The meeting focused on the overall dynamics of development in the Southern provinces, which are now considered an actual regional economic growth pole, which refutes once and for all separatist theses.
On this occasion, Morocco’s Ambassador to Mexico, Abdelfattah Lebbar, went over the historical context of the regional dispute over the Moroccan Sahara and the Kingdom’s development efforts in its Southern provinces.
“This development process is reflected in several aspects, as the populations of the southern provinces fully enjoy their rights, while in the Tindouf camps in Algeria, the sequestered are deprived of the most basic conditions of a decent life and are completely isolated from the world,” stated Lebbar.
The Moroccan diplomat also noted the development of relations between Morocco and Latin American countries and the promising opportunities to strengthen further the partnership between the two regions that share several cultural, economic, and strategic denominators.
The Moroccan ambassador stressed that “Morocco’s relations with Latin countries are based on respecting the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Morocco and facing the separatist theses of entities such as the “Polisario,” which aims to destabilize the entire region under the direct support and funding of Algeria.”
For his part, Mexican analyst Andres Ordonez stressed that the growing international support for Morocco, within the framework of the autonomy plan, reflects “the Kingdom’s status and credibility as a major actor for peace and security at the regional and international levels and as an economic hub undergoing a fast-paced development in its Southern provinces.”
Ordonez, also an expert in international relations, further recalled the exclusive character of the United Nations (UN) in the political process for the settlement of the Sahara issue, which emphasizes the role and responsibility of the parties in reaching a realistic, practical and lasting political solution based on compromise.
In a similar context, Spanish academic and sociologist Rafael Esparza argued that the ‘Polisario’ is Algeria’s marionette serving its agenda and geostrategic interests, expressing his surprise at the obstinacy of the Algerian regime to deny its responsibility in the genesis and persistence of this artificial conflict.
“Algeria’s ongoing rejection of Security Council (SC) resolutions, which enshrine the Round Table process with the participation of Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, and the “Polisario”, is evidence of its attempts to obstruct, by all means, the political dialogue, subsequently serving its political and economic interests.”
The meeting, led by researchers and academics from Morocco and Mexico, was an opportunity to discuss cooperation prospects between Africa and Latin America and ways to encourage the establishment of a South-South strategic pole for the development and prosperity of the two sides of the Atlantic. Emphasis was also placed on the positive effect of Morocco-Mexico relations and the promising opportunities to advance these relations at numerous levels.