Sahara News
by Ali Haidar
The voice of the Polisario and its Algerian mentors has no longer any echo on the European and African political and diplomatic scene, and their separatist views no longer find buyers.
In Europe as in Africa, the Polisario leaders are being shunned. Even some of their former allies no longer support their independence claims.
The Polisario leader Brahim Ghali felt the wind change last Friday (November 16). When he landed at the Addis Ababa airport (for an AU meeting), Brahim Ghali did not find anybody to welcome him, neither on the Ethiopian side, nor on the side of the African Union. A real humiliation for someone who thinks he is a Head of State.
In Africa, the very few English-speaking countries that continue to support the Polisario, such as Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola, or South Africa do not disburse a penny for the Polisario’s “cause”. All they do is to make occasional statements of support for the front’s separatist theses.
Moreover, some analysts, familiar with the Western Sahara issue, say behind the scenes that the Polisario has become a heavy burden for the Algerian regime and a curse that haunts all the countries that support it.
To name but a few. South Africa is facing an economic crisis and recession amidst a series of financial scandals and high-level corruption.
Zimbabwe has long been driven to the brink of bankruptcy by its former president, dictator Robert Mugabe.
Angola was also ruined by its former president José Eduardo dos Santos and his offspring who emptied the public coffers.
President-dictator of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro Moros did the same with his country.
In Algeria, the Polisario’s main supporter, the state coffers have been half-emptied and moribund President Bouteflika is seeking a fifth term, at a time financial experts predict an unprecedented economic and social crisis in Algeria as early as 2019.
The polisario’s curse seems real!
