Los documentos desclasificados de la CIA que alertaban de una guerra entre España y Marruecos

A month before the green march, US intelligence services warned of the possibility of armed conflict between Spain, then sovereign over Western Sahara, and Morocco. This is evidenced by declassified CIA documents dated October 1975, which warned of such a war and the consequent fall of Morocco's reign.  

"With the Spanish Army still in the Sahara, a serious conflict could develop if Morocco loses this gamble. Ultimately, it could lead to the fall of the current government in Rabat," the document reads. "King Hassan II is pursuing a high-stakes policy in the Spanish Sahara. Last August, he reiterated his intention to invade the Spanish Sahara before the end of the year and will do so by force if necessary," the CIA warned.  

A high-risk policy as the CIA considered the possibility that the Spanish army, which has a long history in the region, would not accept the eviction of the Spanish Sahara in favour of Morocco. Barring a military stronghold, the documents stated that 'Spain does not seek a military clash with Morocco'.  

However, the plans of Hassan II carried out on 6 November 1975 did not lead to any conflict. In that year Spain, which was already bidding farewell to General Franco's dictatorship, prepared to leave the territory as part of plans to decolonise Africa. In 1968 it had already granted independence to Equatorial Guinea, and by 1975 the last redoubt of Spanish colonialism was the province of the Sahara. 

The moment was decisive for the aspirations of some of the Saharawis who wanted to form an independent territory, as opposed to the Moroccan plan of Hassan II. More than 300,000 civilians with military units were transported to the then Spanish province in a plan designed by the US State Department and with the logistical support of the CIA itself. The objective, also sponsored by France, was to prevent the Sahara from becoming a puppet state of Algeria and, consequently, of the former USSR. Cold War tensions were latent.  

This concern is echoed in the same CIA document, which specifies that the King of Morocco feared that the UN report on decolonisation, which called for the immediate independence of the Sahara, would be fulfilled. In this sense, and according to what was published, it would not be Algeria that would directly engage in an armed conflict with Morocco over this region, but through the Polisario Front. 

The CIA documents stated that the continuity of Morocco's throne depended on the success of its expansionist policy. "Most Moroccans have supported Hassan's position on the Sahara, but if he fails, he could find himself in serious trouble and vulnerable to a coup d'état".  

"In 1974 King Hassan II mobilised 55,000 troops in southern Morocco" to begin the occupation of the Sahara, according to declassified documents.