Gustavo de Arístegui, diplomat and international analyst, recently spoke about the letter that Pedro Sánchez sent to the King of Morocco Mohamed VI, while attending the latest episode of ‘Facing the world’, on Onda Madrid. The letter reflects the details about change in Spain’s position regarding Western Sahara. Gustavo de Arístegui assured that “the security of the Maghreb is the security of Spain”.
Reflecting on the years long conflict, Gustavo de Arístegui said, it cannot be believed that persevering with a situation that has not brought anything positive for the last forty-seven years, was the most logical thing to do. After forty-seven years of perfect ineffectiveness, we analyse the situation and see that there has also been an obvious geopolitical evolution, since policies and measures had to be adopted that revolve around the new circumstances. Besides Gustavo also identifies that the war in Ukraine has served as a catalyst for the global geopolitical situation, accentuating even more the conditions that advised a change in the public position.
Gustavo de Arístegui also expanded that margin of reference to the Russian interference that is taking place in the Sahel. In a country like Mali, with mercenaries from the Wagner group, where French troops have even been forced to leave, the stability of the Sahel is our stability, the diplomat stated. The stability of the Sahel is essential for Morocco, for the Maghreb, for Mauritania and for sub-Saharan Africa. “We are already seeing that terrorist groups are increasingly involved with each other, organized crime ends up being an ally the one from the other, the traffickers of human beings, drugs, weapons… they end up being the same as those of the kidnapping industry, or the jihadists, many are dedicated to the same things at the same time”, Gustavo de Arístegui detailed.
Recruitment is done indiscriminately and it is known that this recruitment also occurs among young Saharawis who are idle, are paid well and have been indoctrinated, this is the sad reality that occurs in the Sahel. Gustavo de Arístegui pointed out that if this group of organized criminals have a direct exit to the Atlantic, without any obstacle or control, the first thing they find is the Canary Islands, which is Spain, therefore, our security is at stake. The first ones interested in the security, stability and control of this region have to be the Spaniards, Gustavo acknowledged.
As a final reflection, Gustavo de Arístegui said that they cannot forget the central role that Algeria has played in the stability of the Maghreb and the sacrifices made by hundreds of thousands of Algerians in the fight against jihadism. “That is a debt of honor that we all have with them and that we can never forget”, Gustavo concluded.
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