Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Algeria, which brought with him the crème de la crème of the economic and cultural elite, as well as diplomacy and administration, and which was punctuated by the signing of the Algiers Declaration for a renewed partnership between France and Algeria is not for Pedro Canales, international analyst than the tip of the iceberg or even window dressing.
« For my part, I would like to stress that there are problems between Paris and Algiers, but they are not as serious as we are led to believe. There are historical questions, the common memory, whether to apologize for the century of colonization, but this is not the main question “. Defining his thought Pedro Canales in the latest edition of ‘De Cara al Mundo’, on Onda Madrid, he indicated.
« In fact, France has control over the relationship with Algeria besides the large number of senior officials, ministers, gendarmes, soldiers, Algerian businessmen who have dual nationality, it is in France that the elite invests, buys factories, deposits its money in the banks, sends its young people to study. Paris knows the intricacies of corruption and nepotism in the country. The politico-military regime, as Macron defined it a few months ago, needs France and not the other way around. Algiers presents Macron’s visit as a victory, but frankly I don’t think that’s the case ».
To the question of whether France can encourage Algeria to get closer to the European side and less to Russia, or even that there is some intermediation, where Spain and the United States can be present, for that Morocco and Algeria can return to normal relations, Pedro Canales replied. ” Yes, in a way, Macron acts on behalf of the European Union. The European Union seen through the French prism is perhaps not the same as that of the Germans, Italians or Spaniards. Frankly, if France needed the Algerian gas, as has been said in many media, it would agree to open the Spain-France gas pipeline, but instead it kept it secret because it wants to maintain its nuclear industry and if possible sell a nuclear power plant to Algeria, which will need it sooner or later ».
To return to a return to the normalization of relations between Rabat and Algiers, Canales will say: “ Macron is indeed going there on behalf of the European Union, but in terms of mediation I frankly see it as a bad idea because both in Rabat and in Algiers Macron is listened to and taken seriously, the French president has strength, France has a lot of weight, but the crisis that has developed between Morocco and Algeria is so deep and has reached unsuspected limits, already very deteriorated personal relations, that I see mediation as a bad idea”
And to add: Voices are being raised to say that there will be a summit between King Mohamed VI and the Algerian president sponsored by Macron. First of all, if Mohammed VI speaks in the name of Morocco, it is because he is the head of state, but the Algerian president, who is the head of the Algerian state, does not know if he has the power to say anything, since it is the military who are in charge of the country’s affairs and they will never meet the Moroccan head of state, they might meet the military, where there might be mediation by the States United and perhaps indirectly by France with the military, but with the politicians, I see that it is worse ».
As for Algeria’s relationship with Europe, Algeria cannot live without Europe, said Pedro Canales ” we are the ones who buy his products and sell to him. Apart from the military industry, part of which belongs to the Russians, but the rest, which is the foundation of the Algerian economy, depends on Europe, so it is Algeria that will benefit the most from this rapprochement. ».
Algeria only raises its voice with the weak, but not with the strong will defend Pedro Canales. ” Nor with the United States, which is the only country that recognizes Morocco’s sovereignty over its Sahara. The United States is much more powerful than Spain, France or Germany, and the slightest criticism cannot come to mind, not only for the Sahara but also for Palestine, which the Algerians defend on principle. . In short, with the weak, Algeria raises its voice and even exerts force, but with the strong, it does not. “, he said, reports the Atalayar news site.
Moreover, Pedro Canales will conclude, it is a certainty that the Algerian military hold power, but they do not exercise it in a unified and unanimous way as there are several centers and therefore several struggles. We must also not forget that the military and the elites live off the sale of hydrocarbons to the West, and it is with the money obtained from these transactions that they buy weapons, create their own networks and internal lobby. It is therefore half a colossus, but with feet of clay, and as soon as the waters rise, the mud decomposes, as has happened for the past three years. They said they managed to control it but it’s still latent.
The Algerian regime controls, supports, arms and welcomes Polisario separatists on its soil to harm Morocco’s interests, Spanish geopolitics expert Pedro Canales has always stressed, adding that, far from defending Polisario theses, the maneuvers of the Algerian regime aim to destabilize Morocco. “Frankly, from my experience on this issue (…) I can assure you that the Algerian regime does not trust the Polisario, but still wants to exploit it to achieve its objectives.»
