Sahrawi people. Photo: X/ @PamphletsMaoist.
Havana backs the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic’s independence claim.
On Thursday, Cuba reiterated its support for the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) during a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly’s 80th session in New York.
Through social media, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said he reaffirmed to Sahrawi Foreign Minister Mohamed Yeslem Beissat Cuba’s “principled position of supporting the just Sahrawi cause and its inalienable right to self-determination.”
“During the meeting with the SADR foreign minister, we highlighted the historic ties between both peoples and the friendship forged between the principal leaders of both nations,” Rodriguez said.
The SADR seeks independence for the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara, much of which remains under Moroccan control.
Cuba had no relations with Morocco from 1980, when Rabat cut ties in response to Havana’s recognition of the Sahrawi Republic. But in April 2017, Havana and Rabat restored diplomatic relations through the signing of an agreement in New York.
Unresolved Issues in Western Sahara
The conflict in Western Sahara is a long-standing struggle over sovereignty, between the Indigenous Sahrawi people, represented by the Polisario Front, and Morocco, which claims the territory as its own.
The dispute dates back to the colonial era. When Spain withdrew in 1975, Morocco and Mauritania both asserted historical claims to the region. This led to the Madrid Accords, a tripartite agreement that divided the territory between them, sparking an immediate war with the Polisario Front, which had proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). Mauritania renounced its claim in 1979, but Morocco annexed the rest of the territory, triggering a brutal 16-year war.
A pivotal moment came in 1991, when the United Nations brokered a cease-fire based on the promise of a referendum on self-determination, giving the Sahrawi people the choice between independence or integration with Morocco. However, the referendum has never been held.
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The main obstacle has been deep disagreement over voter eligibility. Morocco has encouraged hundreds of thousands of its citizens to settle in the territory and insists they should be allowed to vote. The Polisario Front rejects that, saying it is an attempt to dilute the Indigenous Sahrawi vote.
As a result, the U.N. peacekeeping mission MINURSO remains in place, monitoring the cease-fire but unable to carry out its core political mandate, leaving the status of the territory unresolved.
Currently, the situation is marked by a fragile and deteriorating stalemate. Morocco controls about 80% of the territory, including its most valuable natural resources and coastal cities, behind a 2,700-kilometer defensive wall known as the Berm.
The Polisario Front administers the sparsely populated “Free Zone” east of the Berm and oversees refugee camps in southwestern Algeria. For years, a “no war, no peace” situation prevailed, but this ended in November 2020 when the Polisario Front declared the cease-fire void after Moroccan military action in a buffer zone.
Although full-scale war has not resumed, tensions remain high. Morocco promotes an autonomy plan under its sovereignty, which the Polisario flatly rejects, insisting on full independence. The conflict endures as one of Africa’s most persistent and unresolved decolonization struggles.
(Telesur)
