Declassified: 1978 Swiss Memo Exposes Algeria’s Secret Plot to Destabilize Morocco and Mauritania

In this secret correspondence, Pierre Weber, the Swiss ambassador, specifies that the conspiracy against Morocco and Mauritania has two aims. "The first objective of the Algerian aggression, through the Polisario as a proxy, is: to eliminate, if possible, the current regime in Mauritania and replace it with a regime "favorable" to Algiers. The second objective is to crush the Moroccan economy under growing or at least lasting military spending, in order to break the backbone of Moroccan resistance to the Algerian policy of Maghreb hegemony and African subversion," explains the Swiss diplomat. This correspondence thus proves that Algeria is not playing the role of an observer or defender of the self-determination of the Sahara, but rather the brain of a double conspiracy: one aimed at destabilizing Mauritania, the other at strangling Morocco economically and politically, notes Morocco World News.

Fortunately, "this double objective will not be achieved," the correspondence specifies, as Mauritania’s determination to resist has hardened, while Morocco has remained "unanimous" in its determination and has found financial support from Saudi Arabia. But the Swiss diplomat nevertheless points out that this has had a negative impact: the economic dynamism of Morocco in the early 1970s had slowed down, public finances were under severe strain and the government was forced to austerity. Other consequences: foreign suppliers were not paid, companies faced arbitrary taxation and investors reported stifling audits - all exacerbated by the defense costs imposed by the Algiers war. "By forcing Morocco to increase its defense spending, Algiers hoped to stifle its development model," the correspondence notes.