Africa-Press – Cape verde. Cape Verde will open an embassy and a consulate general in the Kingdom of Morocco. The installation of these two missions is “imminent”, in the words of Minister Rui Figueiredo Soares. The question is what is behind this unprecedented decision in the annals of Cape Verdean diplomacy, something that passes through the Western Sahara dossier.
In the midst of a social and economic crisis, as well as a certain international geopolitical uncertainty, due to the war in Ukraine, the city of Praia decides to go ahead with the opening of an embassy in the Kingdom of Morocco.
It is also intended to install a general consulate of Cape Verde in Dakhla (Western Sahara), two decisions with reasonable financial costs, moreover, for those who have nowhere to drop dead, clamoring every now and then for international help.
The intention to open these diplomatic missions was advanced in a recent visit made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Regional Integration to the Kingdom of Morocco.
Rui Figueiredo Soares announced, in a meeting with his counterpart Nasser Bourita, the “imminent” installation of an Embassy of the Republic of Cape Verde residing in Rabat and the forthcoming opening of a General Consulate in Dakhla.
The NATION knows that, for this purpose, the Palácio das Comunidades has already sent an advanced team to Rabat, to look for facilities, find out about the cost of living in that capital and other logistical issues for the opening of the embassy.
But, with the crisis that is ravaging the country, a diplomatic source says he does not believe that the Government is in a position to finance, at this moment, the installation of an embassy in the Moroccan capital, a capital that, in strategic terms, is not a priority in the current juncture. And even less a consulate general in Dakhla, an area of the globe where Cape Verde has absolutely no particular interest.
forgotten western sahara
Our source believes, yes, that the installation of the Cape Verde embassy in Rabat, as well as the installation of the consulate general in Dakhla, will be financed by the Kingdom of Morocco, with a view to paying favors, due to the fact that Cape- Verdian has changed its position in relation to the problem of Western Sahara.
In fact, at the meeting between the two Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Rui Figueiredo Soares, according to the joint communiqué of the 8th of this month, which the NATION had access to, made it very clear Cape Verde’s support for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Morocco in relation to the Sahara. western.
As this is a sensitive issue that has dragged on for almost 50 years, diplomatically, the Cape Verdean ruler made a point of praising the efforts of the United Nations “as the exclusive structure to reach a realistic, practical and lasting solution to the dispute over the Sahara” and reaffirmed Cape Verde’s support for the Autonomy Plan Initiative presented by the Kingdom of Morocco, which “constitutes the only credible and realistic solution for resolving this dispute”.
Rabat welcomes Cape Verde’s decision
Welcoming this decision by the Government of Cape Verde to install an embassy in Rabat, the head of Moroccan diplomacy, Nasser Bourita, thanked the support in relation to the Sahara issue and recalled the “commendable” Cape Verdean participation, at the level of the its ambassador in Dakar, at the African Ministerial Conference on African Union support to the United Nations Political Process on the Sahara regional dispute, held in Marrakech on 25 March 2019.
Bourita also underlined that his country is willing to contribute to the efforts of socio-economic development of this archipelago, namely in priority sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, tourism, housing and construction, professional training and energy.
According to the same statement, Praia and Rabat agreed to support, in a concerted and mutual way, the Moroccan and Cape Verdean candidacies at the level of regional and international organisations.
The two ministers also agreed to instruct their permanent representatives in New York, Geneva and the African Union to coordinate their actions and decisions on matters of common interest.
What was the “fit”?
The two parties agreed to hold, in Praia, as soon as possible, the second session of the Joint Moroccan-Cape Verdean Cooperation Commission, on a date to be defined by mutual agreement through diplomatic channels.
However, while Cape Verde is willing to open two diplomatic representations, one in Rabat and the other in Dakhla (in Western Sahara), it is not known whether Morocco will be represented at the same level in this archipelago or whether matters will be dealt with at the level of the embassy of that kingdom in Dakar.
Tug of war between Morocco and Algeria
Therefore, in view of what seems to be at stake, it remains to be seen what Cape Verde “fitted in” or will “record”, in material and financial terms, really, for this alignment with Morocco, knowing that it no longer counts on the support of Algeria. , another old ally of this archipelago since the times of the national liberation struggle.
Algeria and Morocco, with the Polisario Front in their midst, which proclaimed the SADR (Saharan Arab Democratic Republic, in 1975) have long maintained a tug-of-war for the possession of what was in the past a Spanish colony. A territory that many consider to be rich in minerals, (underground) water and fishing.
Moreover, still within the framework of its political and diplomatic offensive, only very recently did the Kingdom of Morocco obtain recognition from Madrid of its positions in relation to Western Sahara.
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