Pedro Sánchez appoints a PSOE-friendly diplomat as Ambassador in Rabat
Spanish President of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, has imposed on the Council of Ministers the appointment of Enrique Ojeda Vila as the new Ambassador to Morocco, replacing Ricardo Diez Hochleitner, who had been in the post for eight years. The appointment of Enrique Ojeda has caused astonishment and incomprehension in Moroccan political and diplomatic circles.
The post of Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco is a strategic one for Spain, for many experts even more important than that of the heavyweights of Spanish diplomacy in Washington, Brussels, NATO, the OECD, London, Paris, Moscow or Beijing.
Traditionally, the Spanish government has been very careful in the appointment of the ambassador to Rabat, often linked to the Royal Court, and generally with extensive experience in key positions in international politics and diplomacy.
Pedro Sánchez has broken with this tradition by appointing a diplomat whose only link to Morocco and the Maghreb is his 2004 stint at the Three Cultures Foundation of the Mediterranean, an organisation that Spain and Morocco manage together but which does not interfere in Morocco's internal affairs, geopolitics or international relations.
On the other hand, Enrique Ojeda's diplomatic experience is limited to Latin American countries, such as El Salvador, Bolivia and Chile, where he has spent ten years together, and with which Spain has second-tier relations; a Latin American career that culminated with the three recent years spent directing Casa América in Madrid.
The only explanation given in Rabat for the appointment of Enrique Ojeda as the new ambassador is that he will faithfully follow the directives of Pedro Sánchez, who will be the one from the Moncloa who will directly assume the reins of relations with Morocco, either in person or through his first circle. The Foreign Ministry, headed by José Manuel Albares. Bueno will be a mere sounding board for the management of minor issues.
Some diplomats who know well the intricacies of Spanish-Moroccan relations believe that President Sánchez has made a mistake by depriving the Moroccan Royal Court of a direct bridge to the Spanish Royal Court and the highest echelons of state.
King Mohammed VI appointed as his direct representatives the last two ambassadors to Spain, the current ambassador Karima Benyaich and her brother Fadel Benyaich, with whom the King and his sisters lived for many years in the Royal Palace where they studied and received their education.
Rabat expected otherwise, but has this been yet another blunder? Pedro Sánchez continues to play with fire with Morocco, and does not seem to realise it.