Madrid, 27 March 2022 (SPS) - Several thousand people demonstrated Saturday in Madrid to denounce the new position of the Spanish government led by Pedro Sanchez on the Sahrawi issue, and reiterated their support for the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination and independence.
Under the slogan, "Not in our name", the participants, more than 7,000, according to several media, who gathered in front of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, denounced "betrayal of the Sahrawi people", recalling that Western Sahara "is not part of Morocco, it has never been, it is a Non-Self-Governing Territory awaiting decolonization with its right recognized by the United Nations to self-determination and independence".
In addition, they recalled that Spain "is the administering power regardless of any unilateral declaration or agreement with third parties and, therefore, Spain cannot be separated from its responsibilities.
The Polisario Front representative in Spain, Abdullah Arabi, who took part in the event, said that the Sahrawi presidency had affirmed that the new Spanish position on the issue of Western Sahara is "a dangerous drift" in contradiction with international legality.
For her part, the vice-president of the Spanish Coordination of Associations in Solidarity with Western Sahara (CEAS-Sahara), organizer of the event, Maite Isla, reiterated the character of the Polisario Front "as the sole and legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people".
As such, she assured, "in view of the lack of progress and the situation of war that prevails since November 13, 2020 and aware of the extreme seriousness of the situation, we make a new call to society, political forces, social and trade unions, to join all mobilizations to demand a final resolution of this conflict.
"Once again, they want to eliminate the rights of the Sahrawi people and we will not allow it," said actor Willy Toledo after reading a statement from CEAS-Sahara.
The event was attended by, among others, the MEPs of the Left Sira Rego and Manu Pineda, the spokesman for Podemos, Isa Serra, the spokeswoman of Mas Madrid in the Assembly, Monica Garcia, and the co-founder of Podemos Juan Carlos Monedero.
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