On October 28, 2025, France, represented by Emmanuel Macron, was received with great pomp by King Mohammed VI of Morocco. After several years of discord, this reconciliation glorified the king and was expected to bring up to 10 billion euros to French businesses. But it also contributed to the ethnic cleansing that forced Sahrawi "nomads" to seek refuge in Mauritania or Algeria. ---- A Land Without a People? ---- Western Sahara is a 266,000 km² desert inhabited by organized and independent tribes. This "desert" contains, in addition to phosphate deposits (1), iron, oil, titanium, uranium, etc. As for its Atlantic coast, it is said to be one of the richest fishing grounds on the continent.
This territory, colonized by Spain in 1884, was also coveted by Morocco and Mauritania. Its neighbors are Algeria and Mauritania, and it shares a long border to the east and Morocco to the north. With the imminent departure of the Spanish colonizers, King Hassan II of Morocco called for national unity. He organized the "Green March" of 1975, preceded by the army and followed by the population waving the Quran and the Moroccan flag. They invaded and occupied 85% of Western Sahara. From the 1970s onward, the Polisario Front independence movement opposed the Spanish. After the "Green March," the armed resistance led by the Polisario Front in the name of the SADR (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) rose up against the new Moroccan invader. Algeria supported them and offered Sahrawi refugees refuge in camps in southern Algeria. In 1991, a ceasefire was established under the auspices of the UN. It involves a referendum on self-determination for the Sahrawi people. A political orientation then approved by France.
Today, "realpolitik" is leading the French bourgeoisie to reorient its regional political and economic partnerships with Morocco at the expense of Algeria, with which relations have always been tumultuous. In defense of French capital, Paris is thus aligning itself, after Israel and Spain, with Washington.
As with Palestine in 1948, where Israel, with the approval of the West, seized "a land without a people," once again the Western imperialist powers and their local proxies, under the aegis of the "peacemaker" D. Trump, are endorsing the colonization of this territory by a reactionary monarchy. This demonstrates a disregard for international UN resolutions (which, under pressure from D. Trump, softened its resolution) and for the Sahrawi population awaiting the referendum on their right to self-determination.
From Uncle Sam to D. Trump.
The relationship between Morocco and the USA spans 239 years of friendship and cooperation. As early as 1777, Sultan Mohammed ben Abdellah recognized the newly independent states of America. A sustained trade relationship then developed. From 1812 to 1955, France colonized this territory, which would become Morocco. A pact was sealed between French colonialism and the Sharifian regime. Morocco then benefited from a protectorate regime under the rule of General Lyautey, who established the Alaouite dynasty, which was contested by other tribes. In 1942, with Operation Torch, the Anglo-Americans landed in North Africa. Morocco became a key regional player, a strategic naval position between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, with the Strait of Gibraltar providing a crucial foothold against Nazi Germany and later against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It is worth recalling that Morocco is the only country on the African continent to benefit from a free trade agreement with the American administration, allowing D. Trump to declare: "The United States has recognized Morocco's sovereignty over the Sahara.../... we will encourage American companies that wish to invest in this region of Morocco." Today, this country serves as a base of support against terrorist activities in the Sahel region, but also in Africa, where a Russian presence (the Wagner militias) and Chinese expansionism are becoming a cause for concern.
Towards the end of his first term (2020), D. Trump boasted of having finalized the agreement, formalizing relations between Israel in the Middle East and the Kingdom of Morocco. The culmination of this diplomatic bargaining between reactionary states (the Abraham Accords) is the recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara in exchange for the diplomatic formalization of the colonialist and Zionist state. A cordial agreement between these billionaires (2) illustrates once again the contempt shown for the Palestinian and Sahrawi people. A Trumpian contempt for the UN and the resolutions adopted by this body. The neo-colonial subjugation of the Palestinian and Sahrawi peoples, validated by the UN (under pressure from the American president), denies these peoples their right to self-determination.
The Abraham Accords
For the first time since the treaties signed by Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994, several Arab countries established official relations with Israel. These agreements, signed in 2020 under the auspices of Donald Trump (at the end of his first term), allowed Israel to be accepted and integrated into this part of the Middle East. In return, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain obtained enhanced security guarantees from Washington, Sudan was removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, and Morocco (the fourth signatory) obtained the annexation of Western Sahara. These agreements were denounced by Arab public opinion. The Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, followed by the deadly repression against Palestinians in the West Bank and the genocidal war (100,000 deaths) waged by Israel in Gaza, stalled the accession process, particularly that of Saudi Arabia.
French Imperialism: The Return
While in France, the Prime Minister is striving to push through his austerity policies, in Morocco the King is repressing his youth, Gen Z, who are challenging his reactionary policies (3). The representative of French capitalism (Total, Airbus, Engie, etc.), who is also the President of the French Republic, is received with great pomp by King Mohammed VI in Rabat on October 28, 2025. "Mr. President" is accompanied by 9 ministers, 40 top executives, and various other figures-140 people in total. During this three-day visit, the President and the King stage a display of "restored harmony" between the two countries. The years of discord are forgotten. The "Pegasus" scandal, linked to Israeli software and used by the King's intelligence services to monitor the cell phones of his opponents and even... the French President, is also forgotten. Forgotten, too, is the affront suffered by Paris when Morocco refused French humanitarian aid following the 2023 earthquake in Haouz, in the High Atlas Mountains. Erased is the visa restrictions imposed by Minister B. Retailleau: -50% for Morocco and Algeria, -30% for Tunisia, etc. Driven out of the Sahel region and even West Africa, did French imperialism, given its strained relations with Algeria, have any other choice than to follow, after Madrid, Berlin, and others, the "realpolitik" dictated by D. Trump? By declaring: "...the future of Western Sahara falls within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty," E. Macron is reneging on the position France adopted at the UN in 1991. France's policy of maintaining a balance between Morocco and Algeria is broken. The French president, in turn, endorses the legitimacy of Morocco's appropriation of the Sahara. A territory, admittedly sparsely populated, but whose subsoil riches make the kingdom's businessmen and their backers salivate. Ten billion euros of investment for France, we are told! Veolia for seawater desalination, MGH Energy for wind farms, TotalEnergies for green hydrogen, Alstom for rail... not to mention the construction companies and the pharaonic projects linked to the next World Cup (4). A megalomaniacal scheme desired by the king, supported by Moroccan businessmen and foreign investors. An anti-social policy that protesters have not hesitated to denounce in the streets of Morocco. The CAC 40 can soar, the French bourgeoisie salivate, and the kingdom's autocrat boast of this support.
For a handful of billions... But behind the Franco-Moroccan idyll, French capital is trading the Sahrawi people's future of "self-determination" for a seat at the table for profits. Profits served by His Reactionary Majesty the King, the holder of all that is "MOROCCO."
Through this cordial agreement, this transaction, French imperialism is regaining a foothold and attempting to reinvigorate itself in North Africa after being driven out of Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and even the West African coast. Has French business leadership reminded President Macron of Jacques Chirac's 2008 statement? "Without Africa, France will fall back to the status of a Third World power." Indeed, French power has diminished in its colonial territories to the benefit of China, Russia, and Turkey, not to mention its European competitors. Spain has become Morocco's primary partner. Italy dominates the Algerian hydrocarbon sector, and in Tunisia thanks to Brussels' support... because these Maghreb countries contribute significantly, through negotiations or European funding, to stemming the flow of migrants heading towards Europe.
Putin's Russia has found a receptive audience among the coup leaders in power in the Sahel region through its arms supplies and the presence of the Wagner militia.
This is the consequence of years of occupation, exploitation, and plunder, carried out in the name of "democracy and freedom" by the French state, which, driven from its colonies by popular uprisings, ceded power to Moscow. After Ukraine, Putin opened a second front and found support by demagogically exploiting the anti-colonial sentiment felt by the population. This imperialism, in turn, exploits these populations just as shamelessly and plunders their countries. But here, it's all in the name of... "restored sovereignty."
Nevertheless, Russian investments remain localized and are incomparable to Chinese expansionism on the continent. Beijing declared in Algiers that China "is ready to deepen its cooperation with North African countries in order to strengthen exchanges between peoples." China's "soft power" took off in the 2000s. In six years, it supplanted the continent's traditional Western trading partners, and then, around 2019, the United States. It goes without saying that these private and state-owned capitalists will not share their acquired wealth any more than their predecessors.
In the economic, political, and military repositioning of these multiple imperialisms, French capital is trying to survive among the major powers. The Sahrawi people, the Palestinians, and other peoples seeking independence and sovereignty carry little weight.
Decaen
10/12/2025
Notes
1) Phosphate, the world's largest reserve and second-largest producer, is used in agribusiness, fertilizers, food, and other sectors.
2) For the king, $9 billion in 2025. This includes his dynastic inheritance as well as personal enrichment through his holding companies and other businesses... He is the wealthiest person in Morocco...
For D. Trump, $5.1 billion in real estate and cryptocurrencies... which have grown significantly since his election.
3) Read C. A. No. 354, November 2025: "Fewer stadiums, more hospitals."
4) The Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) in January 2026. But the focus is primarily on preparing for the 2030 FIFA World Cup. The second most-watched televised event in the world, with over 3 billion viewers. It will be co-hosted by Morocco, Spain, and Portugal.
http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4623
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