Gabriel Boric and Western Sahara: From Supporting Sahrawi Self-Determination to Political Submission

While Boric actively supported the Palestinian cause, his administration denied recognition to the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), refused to meet with its diplomatic representatives, remained silent on the human rights violations perpetrated by Morocco in the occupied territories, and prioritized the interests of the Moroccan monarchy. This alignment with European social democracy—specifically with the Spanish government led by Pedro Sánchez, which is wholly supportive of the Moroccan feudal monarchy—abandoned Chile’s historical sovereign and anti-colonial tradition in foreign policy.

1. Boric and the Double Standards in His International Policy

The international policy of former President Gabriel Boric, who portrayed his government as a progressive defender and promoter of human rights in international relations from the outset of his mandate, demonstrated total incoherence, inconsistency, and a double standard concerning Western Sahara, a non-self-governing territory pending decolonization.

During his presidency, he maintained a complicit silence in the face of systematic human rights violations committed by Morocco against the Sahrawi people in the occupied territories. Despite being repeatedly urged by various political organizations, social movements, and even members of his own coalition for recognition of the SADR and the establishment of diplomatic relations, he never addressed these requests.

Thus, his government deliberately turned its back on the right to self-determination and independence of the Sahrawi people in Western Sahara—principles he had once defended as a congressman and political leader before assuming the presidency.

In practice, his administration tacitly validated Morocco’s illegal and colonial occupation of Sahrawi territory, favoring its relationship with the Moroccan monarchy over support for decolonization, self-determination, Sahrawi rights, and international law.

Boric was aware of this issue prior to becoming President, having signed numerous statements denouncing human rights abuses against Sahrawis and parliamentary resolutions calling for recognition of the SADR and the establishment of diplomatic relations.

This stands in stark contrast to the position Boric maintained during his government regarding the colonial occupation of Palestine, where he publicly supported the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and denounced the colonial nature of Israeli occupation. This discrepancy is neither minor nor incidental; it reveals a foundational inconsistency in his international policy.

Indeed, while in the Palestinian case, former President Boric appealed to international law, decolonization, and the defense of human rights, in the case of Western Sahara, he opted for a different stance, effectively denying that same right to the Sahrawi people in the face of Moroccan occupation.

This creates a double discourse and a dual vision on the matter of peoples’ self-determination: on one hand, this principle is championed for Palestine; on the other hand, it is omitted or denied for Western Sahara.

These are not mere nuances or contextual differences but rather a substantial political contradiction regarding a fundamental principle of contemporary international law. A foreign policy claiming to be based on principles cannot apply them selectively without undermining its coherence.

The Boric government maintained silence regarding the plight of the Sahrawi people and the situation in Western Sahara at the Decolonization Commission. Each year, Chile intervenes on behalf of Palestine and the Malvinas; however, unlike other Latin American countries in the committee, Chile systematically remained silent on the events occurring in a decolonization case such as that of Western Sahara, which has been on the United Nations agenda since 1963.

Western Sahara is not just any territory nor an ordinary bilateral dispute. It is a Non-Self-Governing Territory pending decolonization, recognized as such by the United Nations, whose people possess the inalienable right to freely determine their own destiny.

Additionally, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is a full member state of the African Union, which grants the Sahrawi cause a continental and international legal dimension that cannot be ignored by a foreign policy claiming to respect international law.

2. The Demand for Sahrawi Recognition

On July 1, 2022, over 200 individuals and representative organizations—including political leaders, parliamentarians, academics, human rights associations, and social movements—sent a letter to former President Boric requesting the recognition of the SADR and the establishment of diplomatic relations.

The letter emphasized the principle of self-determination and recalled Chile’s historic commitment to the decolonization of Western Sahara, as well as the need for coherence with its own history in international forums.

Excerpt from the letter:

“Dear Mr. President:

Encouraged by the principles you championed in your presidential campaign and upon which you were elected by the majority of the Chilean people, we write to request your recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and the establishment of diplomatic relations between our nations.”

3. The Denial of Boric’s Government and the Political Decision Not to Recognize the SADR

Five months later, the Chilean Foreign Ministry responded on behalf of former President Boric, through the Director of Citizen Attention and Transparency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, formally conveying the State of Chile’s position. In that response, it was explicitly stated:

“By special order of His Excellency, the President of the Republic, this letter dated June 30, 2022, sent to this Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Citizen Management Department of the Presidency is acknowledged.

Regarding your letter, it can be informed that upon consulting the General Secretariat of Foreign Policy, this Secretariat of State has indicated that Chile’s position on the situation in Western Sahara has always been clear and unchanging throughout the years, based on the fundamental principles of our foreign policy, which maintains that conflicts should be resolved peacefully and through dispute resolution mechanisms established by the United Nations and in accordance with International Law.

In this regard, it reiterates that Chile does not recognize the Sahrawi Arab Republic (SADR). However, our country has made efforts to persuade the conflicting parties to reach a peaceful agreement, directly sponsored by the United Nations, both in the General Assembly and in the Security Council.” [^3]

The assertion made by the official of the Foreign Ministry, articulated in the response on behalf of the President, is entirely false.

There is no record of the Boric government establishing any contact with the other party in the conflict, the Polisario Front. Moreover, his government constantly refused to meet with them, showing that the statements from his Foreign Ministry reflected one party’s position as if it were Chile’s official stance.

Unlike the Boric government, every previous administration—Aylwin, Frei, Lagos, Piñera, and Bachelet—maintained some form of regular communication with the Polisario Front and with ambassadors and special envoys of the SADR.

In practice, this response explicitly indicated that Chile would not recognize the SADR, and also refused to fulfill the agreed-upon audience with the letter’s signatories.

This belated, insufficient, and politically revealing response was not merely administrative but rather a conscious political decision, demonstrating former President Boric’s intention to operate outside the principles of self-determination he had previously defended.

In a sense, the response was clear: he would not recognize the SADR, deliberately sidestepping the request and refusing to carry out the promised audience with the letter’s signatories.

4. Conversation in Brussels: Broken Promise

On July 16, 2023, in the Grande Place of Brussels, I met with President Gabriel Boric. The President was in Belgium to attend the III Summit of Presidents and Heads of State CELAC–EU (July 17–18, 2023), while we participated in the CELAC-EU People’s Summit held parallel to the official summit at the Free University of Brussels.

I seized the unexpected opportunity to ask him to listen to me for a few minutes and directly inquire whether he had read the plural letter from July 2022 requesting recognition of the SADR.

In response, he informed me that he had not read it, indicating that “he had not personally overseen the issue.” He even ambiguously mentioned that “he believed he recalled a message coming from Sergio Aguiló about the topic” (Aguiló, a former PS deputy and currently Vice President of the Chilean Association of Friendship with the SADR).

In light of Boric’s comments, I insisted on the necessity for him to make a decision personally in his capacity as Head of State as it was his prerogative, urging him not to delegate it. I briefly explained that the response we had received on his behalf from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was a regression even from the positions of the previous right-wing government under Sebastián Piñera.

I finally asked if he could meet with a representative group of the letter’s signatories to hear our arguments. He responded affirmatively, stating he would have no problem meeting us. I took a selfie of our meeting, indicating that I would publish the photo the day the President announced Chile’s recognition of the SADR or to recount the story if such recognition did not occur.

Upon returning to my hotel, I called former deputy Sergio Aguiló to recount my meeting with President Boric. We agreed to draft a request for an audience explaining our meeting with the President and his willingness to meet with a delegation of the letter’s signatories requesting recognition of the SADR.

We wrote to the President’s chief of staff, Carlos Durán, who replied that he would pass it on to the President and would look into the issue of the audience. Up until the end of his term in 2026—that is, more than two and a half years after that meeting—we never received a response to our audience request, despite having discussed it directly with the President in the historical center of Brussels.

In a sense, the message was clear: due to the Foreign Ministry’s negative stance on his behalf and his decision not to realize the agreed-upon audience.

In March 2023, the Embassy of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in Mexico formally sent, via official letter No. EMB/MX/071/2023, a request to the Chilean Foreign Ministry for Ambassador Mohamed Zrug, responsible for Latin America and the Caribbean at SADR’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a leader of the Polisario Front, to be received during his official visit to Santiago, Chile. This request was transmitted through then-Chilean Ambassador to Mexico, Beatriz Sánchez, a former presidential candidate of the Broad Front and current senator of the Republic.

Ambassador Mohamed Zrug visited Chile from March 24-29, 2023, invited by the Chilean Association of Friendship with the SADR, with the purpose of holding meetings with parliamentarians, mayors, political leaders, social leaders, academic representatives, and media outlets.

However, despite repeated diplomatic and political attempts, the Undersecretary of Foreign Relations, led by Gloria de la Fuente, deliberately failed to formally respond to the request for an audience.

The situation dragged on for several days without an official response, revealing an unjustifiable political and administrative delay. Only after direct insistence from Esteban Silva Cuadra, president of the Chilean Association of Friendship with the SADR, did then-ambassador Juan Pino, director of the Middle East and Africa Division of the Chilean Foreign Ministry, informally communicated to me —after my insistence—that the Sahrawi representative “would not be received” on the grounds that “Chile does not maintain diplomatic relations with the SADR.”

Such a decision set a grave precedent in Boric’s foreign policy. Throughout the entirety of the post-dictatorship period, including governments of various political orientations, representatives of the Polisario Front and the Sahrawi Republic had always been received and listened to by Chilean Foreign Ministry authorities, irrespective of the lack of formalized diplomatic relations with the SADR.

Boric’s government’s refusal to meet with Ambassador Mohamed Zrug not only broke with a historic practice of political and diplomatic dialogue but also revealed a concerning sign of alignment with Moroccan policies of blocking and excluding Sahrawi representation.

This is particularly grave considering that the Polisario Front is recognized by the United Nations as the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people in the unfinished decolonization process of Western Sahara.

Moreover, the decision to refuse to even establish a dialogue channel contradicts Chile’s historic position regarding international law and the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination.

While the Chilean Foreign Ministry does not officially recognize the SADR, it equally does not recognize Morocco’s annexation of Western Sahara nor its intention to unilaterally impose a colonial solution on a territory still awaiting decolonization, as defined by the United Nations.

The attitude assumed by the Undersecretary of Foreign Relations during Ambassador Mohamed Zrug’s visit illustrated, in effect, a regressive political shift and a signal of subordination to external pressures, affecting Chile’s historical tradition of openness to dialogue with parties involved in international conflicts of decolonization and self-determination.

5. Selectivity and Double Standards in the International Defense of Human Rights

Former President Boric’s international policy was characterized by selective human rights concerns, double standards, and incoherence, as it maintained silence regarding the systematic violations committed by Morocco against the Sahrawi people.

While denouncing international situations, particularly Palestine, Boric’s government avoided assuming a coherent stance regarding Western Sahara, despite it being an equally pressing case of occupation, colonization, and denial of the right to self-determination of a people recognized by the United Nations.

Such selectivity ultimately drained the international discourse of his government concerning human rights and self-determination of meaning.

It is particularly significant that while Boric’s government championed international law to denounce Israel’s occupation of Palestine, it refrained from addressing the colonial nature of Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara. In both cases, they involve peoples subjected to occupation, territorial dispossession, and denial of national rights. However, the standard applied by La Moneda was different.

This contradiction became even more evident considering that the United Nations continues to regard Western Sahara as a Non-Self-Governing Territory pending decolonization, and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is a full member of the African Union. [^16] Thus, it was not a marginal or unknown conflict, but one of the most significant unfinished decolonization processes of our time.

The refusal to recognize the SADR, the refusal to meet its diplomatic representatives, and the systematic silence regarding human rights violations committed by Morocco effectively configured a foreign policy marked by selectivity and inconsistency.

6. Progressive Governments and Anti-Colonialism: Petro vs. Boric

Colombian President Gustavo Petro adopted a progressive, sovereign position consistent with international law, restoring diplomatic relations with the SADR three days after assuming office. [^5]

In contrast, former President Boric ignored the requests made by social, political, and civil movements asking him to recognize the SADR, aligning himself instead with the leadership of European NATO-aligned social democracy that denies the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination and independence, distancing himself from a Latin American and Caribbean vision of decolonization.

The contrast between both governments is particularly enlightening. While Petro restored diplomatic relations between Colombia and the Sahrawi Republic and reaffirmed support for the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination, Boric’s government opted for a total distance from the Sahrawi cause and deepened its unilateral relations with the colonial occupier of Western Sahara.

Moreover, former President Boric aligned himself with the foreign policy of the Spanish government led by Pedro Sánchez and the PSOE, subordinating his international policy to the European position on Western Sahara. This alignment became more significant after Pedro Sánchez’s pivot in March 2022, when the Spanish government abandoned its historically neutral position regarding Western Sahara and publicly supported Morocco’s autonomy proposal.

This shift was widely criticized by Spanish democratic forces, solidarity organizations with the Sahrawi people, and the Spanish left itself, which denounced a breach of international law and United Nations resolutions.

Although the Chilean government never formally endorsed Morocco’s autonomy proposal, it ultimately politically coincided with the new positioning of the Spanish government by refusing to recognize the SADR and maintaining an increasingly conciliatory approach towards Morocco.

This subordination implied the abandonment of a doctrinal and sovereign position in the face of an unresolved decolonization case and the effective adoption of political balances of European social democracy, which are closer to Morocco’s position than to the Sahrawi people’s inalienable right to freely determine their own fate.

7. The Government Aligns with Morocco

In Chile, there was no avoidance of the issue: there was a political decision to align with Morocco, prioritizing the relationship with the Moroccan monarchy. Boric’s government ended up adopting a policy functional to Moroccan diplomatic interests, distancing itself from Chile’s historic positions on self-determination and decolonization.

This orientation was promoted by sectors of the Foreign Ministry and parliamentary groups linked to pro-Moroccan lobbying networks. [^17]

Among those who have played a significant role in defending, promoting, and lobbying for Moroccan interests in Chile are leaders and parliamentarians from various political backgrounds, including Guido Girardi, Francisco Chahuán, Ignacio Walker, Ximena Rincón, Jaime Quintana, Manuel José Ossandón, Iván Moreira, Sergio Gahona, Tomás de Rementería, Yasna Provoste, Vlado Mirosevic, Catalina del Real, Juan Antonio Coloma, Fidel Espinoza, and former deputies Roberto León and Jorge Tarud, among others, who have participated in multiple trips and activities organized and financed by agencies linked to the Moroccan regime and monarchy. [^8]

Moreover, the role played by Osvaldo Andrade, former president of the Socialist Party of Chile, should be noted, who at one time supported the Sahrawi cause but has since completely shifted and now supports the colonial occupation of Western Sahara, serving as the honorary consul of the Kingdom of Morocco in Rancagua, a position officially recognized by the Chilean state. [^11]

The existence of these influence networks is not an isolated phenomenon. It is part of an international strategy deployed by Morocco to gain political, parliamentary, and media support aimed at legitimizing the occupation of Western Sahara and undermining international solidarity with the Sahrawi people and the recognition of the Sahrawi Republic.

8. Normalizing the Occupation of Western Sahara in Chile

During his administration, ministers and parliamentarians from his coalition, along with right-wing sectors, traveled to Morocco and even to occupied Sahrawi territories, contributing to the legitimization of the illegal occupation of Western Sahara.

These trips cannot be interpreted as mere protocol gestures or ordinary diplomatic activities. In the context of a territory pending decolonization, inscribed on the United Nations agenda, any political visit to Moroccan-occupied Sahrawi cities effectively serves as an act of normalizing the colonial presence of Morocco.

Notable figures associated with these activities include Karol Cariola, Francisco Chahuán, Ximena Rincón, Ignacio Walker, Jaime Quintana, Manuel José Ossandón, and Fidel Espinoza. [^9]

Particularly controversial was the case of socialist parliamentarian Fidel Espinoza, whose trip to Morocco attracted public scrutiny and journalistic reports that condemned the existence of financed invitations and activities organized by Moroccan agencies. [^10]

Moreover, various public complaints criticized the use of regional and Latin American parliamentary spaces to promote favorable positions for Morocco at the expense of the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination. [^10]

The severity of these trips lies precisely in the fact that they were undertaken by Chilean authorities and political representatives while Boric’s government refused to meet with the Polisario Front, the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people, and while the Foreign Ministry claimed to maintain a supposed balanced position.

In practice, this behavior refuted any neutrality: one party was listened to, visited, and legitimized while the other was silenced and excluded. Thus, the alignment with Morocco was not solely discursive or administrative. It manifested in concrete actions, visits, meetings, photographs, declarations, and political ties that ultimately favored Morocco’s strategy of presenting its occupation of Western Sahara as “normal.”

As a result, these visits by Chilean ministers and parliamentarians to Morocco and occupied territories must be understood as part of a larger political operation: the international legitimization of a colonial occupation that international law does not recognize as Moroccan sovereignty.

9. Boric’s Signal of Support for the Moroccan Occupier at Pampilla

The political alignment of Boric’s government with Morocco was not only expressed in diplomatic decisions, Foreign Ministry responses, or trips by Chilean parliamentarians and authorities to Morocco and occupied Sahrawi territories. It also manifested through high-profile symbolic gestures.

One of the most significant occurred in September 2025 during the official inauguration of the fondas for Fiestas Patrias at Pampilla (Coquimbo), when former President Boric appeared alongside the Moroccan ambassador in Chile.

As publicly denounced by Nicolás Romero Reeves in the magazine De Frente, “President Gabriel Boric cut the ribbon accompanied by the Moroccan ambassador in Chile” and “was seen inaugurating the country’s main popular festival side by side with the diplomatic representative of the Moroccan monarchy.” [^12]

That image was widely disseminated and did not go unnoticed by those following the situation in Western Sahara or those observing Morocco’s increasing diplomatic offensives in Latin America.

Pampilla is not just an ordinary diplomatic event; it is one of the most important popular celebrations in Chile, an expression of republican, popular, and national identity. The prominent presence of the Moroccan ambassador alongside the President of the Republic at such a ceremony conveyed an unmistakable political signal of closeness and legitimacy.

What is notable is not just the ambassador’s presence but the political context in which it occurred. By that date, Boric’s government had already rejected recognizing the Sahrawi Republic, had avoided formally receiving representatives of the Polisario Front, had denied audience to those requesting recognition of the SADR, and had remained silent regarding the allegations of human rights violations by Morocco in the occupied territories of Western Sahara.

From this perspective, the image acquired evident political significance. It was not a neutral photograph. It represented the public expression of a diplomatic orientation that had already been consolidating.

The critique formulated by Nicolás Romero Reeves pointed precisely at that contradiction. It was paradoxical that a government claiming to uphold an international policy based on human rights would provide privileged visibility to the diplomatic representative of a monarchy maintaining the occupation of a territory deemed by the United Nations to be a Non-Self-Governing Territory pending decolonization. [^16]

From the perspective of those supporting the Sahrawi cause, that image represented a particularly negative political signal. While the Sahrawi people continued to wait to exercise their right to self-determination, the Chilean government seemed to symbolically prefer to strengthen its relationship with the occupying power.

The scene took on even greater significance considering that Morocco has long developed an intense international strategy to normalize its occupation of Western Sahara and to present as legitimate a situation that the United Nations continues to regard as an unfinished decolonization process.

Therefore, the Pampilla image was perceived as much more than a mere protocol activity. It represented the symbolic expression of a foreign policy that decided to prioritize its relationship with Morocco over the consistent defense of the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination.

10. The Geopolitics of Double Standards: Boric, the United Arab Emirates, and the Israel-Morocco Axis

As President of the Republic, Gabriel Boric made his only official visit to an Arab Gulf country in July 2024: the United Arab Emirates (UAE), becoming the first Chilean Head of State to make an official visit to that monarchy. [^13]

This decision was neither casual nor merely protocol-driven. It was entirely consistent with the contradictions and double standards that marked his foreign policy. The United Arab Emirates are one of Israel’s main strategic allies and, simultaneously, one of the most important political, diplomatic, and economic supporters of the Moroccan monarchy in its occupation of Western Sahara.

The consolidation of this political and geostrategic axis occurred particularly following the Abraham Accords promoted by the United States in 2020. These accords simultaneously strengthened normalization between Israel and various Arab monarchies, including the United Arab Emirates and Morocco.

The Israeli occupation of Palestine and the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara thus began to articulate within the same framework of geopolitical alliances promoted by Washington.

In the business and parliamentary delegation invited by Boric were some of the most active promoters of Moroccan positions in Chile. Prominent among them were Francisco Chahuán, Yasna Provoste, and Guido Girardi. [^17]

Subsequently, the holding of the so-called Chile-Morocco Future Congress in Rabat took on particular significance. This initiative brought together political leaders, parliamentarians, and institutional representatives from Chile in an event funded by the Moroccan monarchy aimed at strengthening political and academic ties with Morocco. [^14]

These events reinforced the perception that the rapprochement between Chile and Morocco during Boric’s government was not solely motivated by traditional diplomatic considerations but also by a broader strategy of international insertion associated with specific geopolitical balances.

It is legitimate to question why a government that claimed to defend human rights without exception chose precisely an authoritarian Gulf monarchy as its main Arab interlocutor and simultaneously strengthened relations with one of the key international supporters of Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara.

11. The Ignored Letter

In March 2025, thirty-seven human rights organizations, international solidarity groups, social movements, and political organizations, along with over a hundred personalities, academics, social leaders, former parliamentarians, and ex-ambassadors, sent a new letter to President Gabriel Boric. [^15]

The letter reiterated the request made in 2022 and reminded him of the legal foundations that support the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination. The signatories recalled United Nations resolutions, the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice of 1975, and the nature of Western Sahara as a territory pending decolonization.

Additionally, they highlighted that the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is a full member of the African Union and that more than 40 countries maintain diplomatic relations with it. [^16]

The request was clear: to recognize the Sahrawi Republic and establish diplomatic relations.

There was no response.

The President did not respond.

The Chancellor did not respond.

The Undersecretary of Foreign Relations did not respond.

No state organization responded.

The silence ultimately became a political decision.

12. Silence as State Policy

Former President Boric concluded his mandate on March 11, 2026. He did so without having responded to the letter sent in 2025. He did so without anyone from his government officially receiving the Polisario Front. He did so without having corrected the refusal of his Foreign Ministry made in his name regarding the request for recognition of the SADR. He did so without providing any explanation regarding the diplomatic exclusion suffered by Ambassador Mohamed Zrug during his visit to Chile.

This silence was not administrative. It was political. It represented the definitive confirmation of a biased and conservative diplomatic orientation maintained throughout his mandate.

13. A Government of Continuity in National and International Policy

As noted by Luis Mesina, leader of the National Coordinator of Workers No More AFP, Gabriel Boric’s government was characterized by a profound continuity with substantive aspects of the political, economic, and institutional model inherited.

Mesina asserted that “beyond the rhetoric, the 2022-2026 period was one of absolute continuity” and that the government ultimately renounced any significant transformative possibilities. [^18]

The policy towards Western Sahara constitutes a particularly clear expression of that logic. Instead of advancing toward a sovereign foreign policy based on principles, the government opted to maintain traditional balances and avoid decisions that could unsettle specific diplomatic actors.

The renunciation to recognize the SADR, the refusal to meet with its representatives, and the increasing rapprochement with Morocco expressed that same trend.

The continuity denounced by Mesina also manifested in international matters: continuity with a cautious diplomacy regarding established powers, continuity with a selective view of human rights, and continuity with an increasingly subordinated foreign policy aligned with external affiliations.

The Sahrawi cause thus became a concrete example of that contradiction between a transformative discourse and governmental practice.

14. The Abdication of a Sovereign Policy

When a government renounces principles it claims to defend, it jeopardizes not only its international coherence but also its political and historical credibility. And when a government presenting itself as progressive abandons the defense of the self-determination of peoples, the contradiction becomes even more evident.

Boric’s government ultimately strayed from Chile’s historical tradition regarding decolonization and self-determination. The position taken regarding Western Sahara did not reflect the continuation of a principled policy but rather the predominance of interests, influences, paid travels, and pressures favoring rapprochement with the Moroccan monarchy.

Various political operators, parliamentarians, and proponents of Moroccan positions in Chile played a significant role in this process against the rightful struggle for Sahrawi self-determination and independence, including Guido Girardi, Jorge Tarud, Francisco Chahuán, Ignacio Walker, Iván Moreira, Ximena Rincón, Jaime Quintana, Manuel José Ossandón, Fidel Espinoza, Tomás de Rementería, Isabel Allende, Jaime Naranjo, and Osvaldo Andrade—now the honorary consul of the repressive Moroccan monarchy—among others. [^11] [^17]

Additionally, various organizations and influence platforms systematically promoted narratives favorable to Morocco and hostile to the Polisario Front and the Sahrawi Republic.

The political consequence of this process was evident: Chile ended up distancing itself from a position coherent with international law and the Sahrawi people’s cause for self-determination.

When the defense of decolonization and the self-determination of peoples is abandoned, the possibility of constructing a genuinely sovereign foreign policy, Latin American, anti-colonial, and consistent with the proclaimed principles, is also relinquished.

By abandoning the Western Sahara—Africa’s last colony—Chile also gave up a sovereign, progressive, and anti-colonial foreign policy.

It abandoned Chile’s historical coherence with the peoples fighting for their independence, it abandoned international solidarity, and it abdicated, in practice, a Latin American and Caribbean vision founded on dignity, self-determination, and justice for peoples.

Esteban Silva

NOTES

[^1]: Annual interventions by Chile before the United Nations on Palestine and the Malvinas, and absence of official statements on Western Sahara at the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization (C-24), despite the fact that it is a Non-Self-Governing Territory pending decolonization listed on the UN agenda since 1963.

[^2]: Letter addressed to President Gabriel Boric by over 200 Chilean personalities and organizations—including parliamentarians, academics, social leaders, human rights defenders, intellectuals, and social movements—requesting recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and the establishment of diplomatic relations on July 1, 2022.

[^3]: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile, letter signed by Felipe Rodríguez Castro, Director of Citizen Attention and Transparency, Santiago, November 21, 2022, responding on behalf of President Gabriel Boric to the request for recognition of the SADR.

[^4]: III CELAC–EU Summit, Brussels, Belgium, July 17 and 18, 2023, and the People’s Summit CELAC-EU held in parallel at the Free University of Brussels. Meeting held by Esteban Silva Cuadra with President Gabriel Boric in the Grande Place of Brussels on July 16, 2023.

[^5]: Restoration of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Colombia and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic under President Gustavo Petro’s government, August 2022.

[^6]: Request for Public Information submitted to the Undersecretary of Foreign Relations of Chile (Code AC001T0005084) regarding audience requests of Ambassador Mohamed Zrug, representative for Latin America and the Caribbean of the SADR, during his official visit to Chile in March 2023. Official letter EMB/MX/071/2023 sent by the SADR Embassy in Mexico.

[^7]: Refusal of the Chilean Foreign Ministry, led by Undersecretary Gloria de la Fuente, to officially receive Ambassador Mohamed Zrug during his visit to Chile. Informal communication made by Juan Pino, Director of the Middle East and Africa Division of the Foreign Ministry, stating that the Sahrawi representative would not be received as Chile does not have diplomatic relations with the SADR.

[^8]: Participation of Chilean authorities in activities organized or financed by institutions linked to the Kingdom of Morocco, including activities associated with the so-called Chile-Morocco Future Congress and other initiatives developed in Rabat and occupied territories.

[^9]: Visits by Karol Cariola, Francisco Chahuán, Ximena Rincón, Ignacio Walker, Jaime Quintana, Manuel José Ossandón, Fidel Espinoza, and other Chilean parliamentarians and political leaders to Morocco and cities in Western Sahara under Moroccan occupation, including Dajla and El Aaiún. Public statements and complaints made by Esteban Silva Cuadra and organizations in solidarity with the Sahrawi people regarding such visits.

[^10]: Radio Universidad de Chile, “The Controversial Trip of Deputy Fidel Espinoza to Morocco,” February 12, 2018. See also: “Improper Interference by Morocco Injures the Sovereignty of the Andean Parliament,” El Clarín de Chile, June 30, 2022.

[^11]: Osvaldo Andrade Lara, former president of the Socialist Party of Chile, appointed Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Morocco in Rancagua. Official registry from the Chilean Foreign Ministry concerning accredited honorary consulates in the country.

[^12]: Nicolás Romero Reeves, “Boric Taints the Flag by Inaugurating at Pampilla alongside the Moroccan Ambassador while the Sahrawi People Remain Occupied,” Revista De Frente, September 18, 2025. Also see Esteban Silva Cuadra’s statements and publications questioning the political implications of that activity.

[^13]: “President of the Republic, Gabriel Boric Font, makes Official Visit to the United Arab Emirates focused on investment and economic growth,” Presidency of Chile, July 2024.

[^14]: “Chile-Morocco Future Congress: International Meeting on Science and Technology Addressing Local Responses to Global Challenges,” Tiempo21, December 2024. Participation of Guido Girardi and Chilean political delegations in activities held in Rabat funded by Moroccan institutions.

[^15]: Letter addressed to President Gabriel Boric in March 2025 by 37 organizations and over 100 Chilean personalities requesting again the recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and the establishment of diplomatic relations between Chile and the Sahrawi Republic.

[^16]: The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic has been a founding and full member of the African Union since 1984. The United Nations continues to consider Western Sahara a Non-Self-Governing Territory pending decolonization and recognizes the Polisario Front as the legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people in the UN-sponsored political process.

[^17]: For information on pro-Moroccan political and parliamentary influence networks in Chile, see the records concerning Guido Girardi, Francisco Chahuán, Fidel Espinoza, Ignacio Walker, Jaime Quintana, Ximena Rincón, Manuel José Ossandón, Osvaldo Andrade, and other leaders who have participated in activities organized or funded by institutions linked to the Kingdom of Morocco.

[^18]: Luis Mesina, “The Mirage of Legacy: A False Balance,” Le Monde Diplomatique Chile, a critical balance of Gabriel Boric’s government and the political, economic, and institutional continuities of the 2022–2026 period.

La entrada Gabriel Boric and Western Sahara: From Supporting Sahrawi Self-Determination to Political Submission se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.