Peru’s Former FM Exposes President Pedro Castillo’s Fickleness over Moroccan Sahara

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Peru’s Former Foreign Minister, Miguel Rodriguez Mackay highlighted the fickleness of President Pedro Castillo regarding the withdrawal of the country’s recognition of the so-called rasd, adding that the head of state understood well that this so-called country does not exist in international law. “The withdrawal of the recognition of the rasd was a decision of Pedro Castillo”, he said in an interview with the e-newspaper “Infobae” released on Monday. Miguel Rodriguez Mackay broke his silence about this matter since his resignation due to disagreements with the Head of State over the diplomatic direction of his country regarding sadr, among other things. In this interview, the former FM talked for the first time about the context in which the decision to withdraw the recognition of the so-called sadr by Peru was taken on 18 August, before the country’s U-turn 20 days later. “It was a decision of Pedro Castillo. Foreign policy is directed by the president. The chancellery has exposed the mistakes that were made. (…) I explained to the president and his team that the self-proclaimed sadr is the consequence of a process led by the polisario with Algeria’s support, and that the Sahrawi population includes some 400,000 people, 360,000 of whom are in the Moroccan Sahara and the other 40,000 in Tindouf, on Algerian territory. Where is the Sahrawi State?,” Rodriguez Mackay wondered, explaining that for the creation of a State there must be a nation and a territory. The former FM also noted the he “provided this explanation to the Head of State, who understood it and said ‘let’s go ahead’ and initiate the process of withdrawal of recognition” of the so-called sadr.” “As an expert in international law, I have reached conclusions that I made known to the president… As someone who has a clear view of international law on what the Moroccan Sahara means, it would be inconsistent for me to have a position that is contrary” to those beliefs, he concluded.