Ecuador suspends the recognition of SADR
The Republic of Ecuador has decided to suspend its official recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), which therefore loses further international support.
Ecuador had recognised SADR in 1983 and even opened an embassy in 2009, giving diplomatic cover to an entity that is not officially recognised by a large majority of nations.
SADR was constituted in February 1976 just as Spain left Western Sahara as a colonising power. This marked the beginning of a period of territorial conflict over Western Sahara, a territory now claimed as independent by SADR and the Polisario Front and as an autonomous region of its own by Morocco.
Some 80 countries have at some point shown support for SADR as a sovereign entity, although the major international bodies and a significant majority of countries do not officially recognise the existence of a Sahrawi state or republic.
The Ecuadorian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gabriela Sommerfeld, informed her Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita, in a telephone conversation about this decision to suspend recognition of SADR and about the letter of notification sent to the delegation of the Saharawi organisation in Quito.
Thus, Ecuador has dealt a major setback to Saharawi pro-independence postulates by ceasing to support SADR and, consequently, the Polisario Front. This decision follows in the footsteps of many other countries that, for example, have given their support to Morocco's thesis for settling the Saharawi dispute.
Morocco proposes for Western Sahara a formula of broad autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty, respecting the resolutions of the United Nations (UN), with the aim of developing the territory in all areas. According to Moroccan postulates, a broad capacity for self-government would be envisaged for the Sahrawi authorities, with defence and foreign policy remaining in the hands of the Moroccan state.
Numerous countries, including the United States, France, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Germany and Spain, have recognised the Moroccan kingdom's initiative as the most serious, credible and realistic way of resolving the problem of Western Sahara, which has lasted almost five decades since Spain left the territory as a colonial power.
The Polisario Front, which proposes holding a referendum on independence, which is difficult to achieve, according to various analysts, due to problems such as the need to draw up a census of Sahrawis, bearing in mind that some are in what Morocco calls the ‘southern provinces’ and others in the refugee camps in Algeria, where they suffer difficult living conditions, has less international support. This proposal has less international support, including from Algeria, Morocco's great political rival in the Maghreb, especially following the Algerian state's decision to break off relations with its Moroccan neighbour, which it accused of ‘hostile acts’, due to deep political differences over issues such as Western Sahara.
Ecuador's decision to suspend recognition of SADR opens a new chapter in relations between Morocco and the South American country, which could lead to closer and more fruitful diplomatic relations between the two countries.