[News] Polisario Front: 50 Years of Struggles and Victories

[Anti-Imperialist News]

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Polisario Front: 50 Years of Struggles and Victories
Sergio Rodriguez-Gelfenstein - May 22, 2023
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[image: Polisario Front coat of arms. Photo: United World.]

Polisario Front coat of arms. Photo: United World.

By Sergio Rodríguez Gelfenstein – May 17, 2023

May 10, marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Popular Front for
the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro (Polisario), the
legitimate representative of the Saharawi people in their struggle for
self-determination. Likewise, this coming May 20 people will commemorate
half a century since the beginning of the armed struggle against the
Spanish colonial power.

The Polisario Front, founded in 1973 by El Uali Mustafa Sayed along with
other young Saharawis, gave continuity to the struggles undertaken since
the 1960s by the Movement for the Liberation of the Sahara, led by Mohamed
Sidi Brahim Basir. Its objective – from the first moment of its existence –
has been to win the independence of Western Sahara.

The Polisario Front’s half-century of struggle has allowed it to
consolidate national unity and build the Saharawi identity. Despite all the
successes however, the Saharawi people have not yet been able to gain total
and absolute independence.

The creation of the Polisario Front took place in the context of the
struggle for independence of the African peoples against colonialism and
imperialism. Similarly, this event is closely linked to the great social
and political conquests achieved by the struggle of the workers, women and
youth in various regions of the planet. Since then, their struggle has been
inscribed in the history of anti-colonial and pro-democracy battles.


*Western Sahara, the Spanish state, and Morocco *At the beginning of 1973,
there had been many meetings between groups campaigning for the
independence of Western Sahara. In the first months of that year, these
associations moved towards agreements of greater understanding and
coordination of actions against colonialism.

At the end of April, a conference was held irregularly and in different
places in the desert to divert the Spanish intelligence service. In these
sessions, the participants decided to create a political-military
organization to fight for independence. As a result, the Polisario Front
was born on May 10, 1973, in Zuerat (Mauritania).

Ten days later, the Polisario Front attacked the police post of El Janga,
starting the anti-colonial liberation war that was expanding the magnitude
and geographical space of its actions, causing more and more casualties to
the Spanish army. Meanwhile, the prestige of the Polisario Front and its
liberation army grew in the mind and spirit of the Saharawi people who also
began to receive international support, especially from Algeria and Libya.

The strong armed blows suffered by the Spanish occupation army demonstrated
the justice of the armed struggle being waged. Under these conditions, the
enraged Francoist dictatorship began to look for an “honorable way out” of
the situation that had been created. To that extent, – with the attitude
typical of colonial powers – Francoist Spain set about the task of creating
an “independent” autochthonous government that would function under
Madrid’s control.

On Aug. 20, 1974, the Spanish government sent a note to the United Nations
Secretary General announcing its intention to hold a referendum on
self-determination in Western Sahara during the first half of 1975. At the
same time it promoted the formation of a political party loyal to Madrid’s
interests called the “Saharawi National Union Party” (PUNS).

During 1975, the Saharawi Liberation Army was strengthened through the
incorporation of several military units that increased its firepower and
maneuvering capacity to the point of undertaking large-scale operations.
For example, it could seize control of Spanish military posts while
striking the occupier’s troops and rearguard.

After two and a half years of war, the Polisario Front crowned its
political-military efforts by holding, on Oct. 12, 1975, the Convention for
National Unity, in the locality of Ain Ben Tili. But by then, Spain had
reached a secret agreement with Morocco for the surrender of the Saharawi
territory in what is considered one of the greatest betrayals in colonial
history [by turning control over to Morocco].

Faced with this situation, the Polisario Front convened a large assembly
attended by personalities from all the political forces in favor of
independence: representatives of various sectors and members of the
Djema’a, which is the main body of a tribe and is composed of elders and
elected leaders. In this framework and under the leadership of El Uali
Mustafa Sayed, they proclaimed the union of the people around the program
and structures of the Polisario Front with the aim of achieving
independence and defending the territorial integrity of Western Sahara.


*A united and inclusive society *The long struggle of resistance of the
Polisario Front against the Moroccan occupation has made it possible to lay
the foundations for the construction of a society and a State which are
projected into the future on the basis of ideas which gather the best of
the human condition and the fundamental principles of coexistence in the
world.

In these years, the Polisario Front has been able to build a united and
inclusive Saharawi society. To this end, it brings together all the
progressive sectors and personalities of Saharawi society wherever they
are: in exile, in the liberated regions or those under Moroccan occupation.

After 50 years since its creation, the Polisario Front has renewed its
commitment to those who have fallen in dozens of years of struggle against
colonialism and Moroccan expansionism. Its objectives have always been, in
addition to independence, the construction of a modern state in the context
of a North African regional integration.

At the international level, the Polisario Front defends the creation of a
Palestinian state, the unity of the Arab world and the elimination of all
forms of colonialism in Africa.

(United World
<https://uwidata.com/30042-polisario-front-50-years-of-struggles-and-victories/>
)


Sergio Rodriguez-Gelfenstein

Sergio Rodríguez Gelfenstein, a Venezuelan international relations expert,
Gelfenstein was previously Director of the International Relations of the
Presidency of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, his country’s
ambassador to Nicaragua and an advisor for international politics for
TELESUR. He has written numerous books, among them “China in the XXI
Century – the awakening of a giant,” published in several Latin American
countries.
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