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Join on Telegram Rabat- In a statement published on September 15, the Foreign Ministry of Peru officially announced that the Latin American country is again resuming diplomatic ties with the Polisario’s political entity and withdrawing support for Morocco’s autonomy plan, days after the country’s foreign minister resigned over the decision.
The decision, which comes at an unprecedented chaotic time at Peru’s foreign ministry, reveals a diplomatic u-turn driven by internal divisions in Lima. On August 19, the government announced it would cut ties with the Polisario’s paper state, yet less than a month later, the foreign ministry has switched its position once again.
A statement from Peru’s beleaguered foreign office reads “The Foreign Ministry of Peru reaffirms the sovereign will of the Government of Peru to renew its diplomatic relations with the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in compliance with the Official Communique No. 017-2021 dated the 8 September 2021.”
The decision comes shortly after Peru had announced it would cut ties with the Polisario’s political entity, as Peru showed solidarity with Morocco’s Autonomy Plan to resolve the Western Sahara dispute.
Chaos in Peru’s foreign affairs
Former Peruvian Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Rodriguez Mackay resigned over the matter, claiming that the country’s president, Pedro Castillo, intervened in his decision-making. Rodriguez MacKay became the fourth Peruvian foreign minister to leave the ministry since Castillo’s inauguration in July 2021.
Rodriguez MacKay resigned as minister citing disagreements over the Western Sahara dispute, after less than six weeks in the job. Still, he is not the shortest serving top diplomat during Castillo’s presidency, as former FM Héctor Béjar abandoned the post within three weeks of his appointment.
Rodriguez MacKay indicated on Twitter that he had spent significant efforts in building Peru’s friendship with Morocco, especially given the latter’s much-needed phosphate riches amid a global supply crunch in fertilizers.
The now-former FM’s efforts produced only short-term results however, as President Castillo publicly undermined his efforts on September 8 when he voiced support for the Polisario’s political entity on Twitter and in an official communique, prompting the resignation of his foreign minister several days later.
A government in disarray
The political drama that resulted in Peru’s sudden foreign policy shift is unlikely to surprise Peruvians. Peru has become another of Latin America’s microcosm for the region’s decades-old struggle between socialist and neoliberal economics. As governments change in the region, they often produce radical shifts in both domestic and foreign policy.
Peru is no exception, with its current leftist president being elected after years of public discontent and large-scale riots in 2020 that resulted in the impeachment of President Martin Vizcarra over allegations that he was “morally incompetent.” The resulting political void was filed by political outsider Pedro Castillo, who has had little luck in returning political stability to Peru.
Since his election in July 2021, President Castillo has seen 50 ministers enter and exit his cabinet amid a flurry of accusations of corruption and mismanagement. Castillo has picked a variety of foreign ministers of different political persuasions, but few have managed to hold the post for more than a few months.
