When Pablo Iglesias, once Spanish deputy prime minister and now a talk show guest, told radio station RAC1 there was nothing more reckless than to rely on Pedro Sánchez after he did an about-face on Spain's historical position on the Sahara and abandoned its people to their fate, a fate which will be decided by Morocco, I could not help but think how the Spanish prime minister manages to keep fooling everyone without paying an excessive cost. Because the PSOE has never been more isolated in such a momentous decision in international politics which, incidentally, Sánchez has not yet explained, even though critical voices are already beginning to emerge from within his party, such as that of the Balearic president Francina Armengol, who has called for the recognition of Western Sahara. That is, a return to the situation prior to the letter of surrender sent to the king of Morocco.
Today, the debt of Iglesias has already been paid back, politically speaking, and clearly, if he puts it this way it is because he can afford to and must have known the Socialist leader very well, both as deputy PM and at the stage when he was the leader of Podemos. How many would agree that there is nothing more reckless than relying on Pedro Sánchez? Surely, almost everyone who in one way or another has had to relate to him or try to reach some political agreement with him. Ministers who lost their portfolios overnight such as José Luis Ábalos or all-powerful advisors such as Iván Redondo might agree, having fallen after a settling of scores that lasted scarcely a few minutes. There are opposition leaders or parliamentary partners, who are promised things that never quite arrive and whose explanation about the negotiations in the Moncloa palace always ends up being a sorry story.
The big question that has yet to be answered is whether Sánchez, this time, has made a decision so controversial that he has bitten off more than he can chew. Not everything is about satisfying the American friend, who, despite being very important, is still just one more actor in the international concert. Ignoring the United Nations and the many resolutions it has passed on the Sahrawi people's right to independence is unbecoming for a government that seeks to be respected. To pretend not to hear the European Commission which on Monday spoke of a solution within the framework of the UN that is realistic, viable, lasting, acceptable to the parties, based on consensus and that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, is at the opposite pole from the position Sánchez has taken, riding roughshod over all the international resolutions.
Although there is generalized anger about it, 21st century politics are very similar to those of the 20th century: here, no one resigns in protest, and they use the excuse that they can exert more pressure from within than from without. This is true in theory, but the truth is that pressure from within is almost never exerted or is rarely done. With so much tit for tat in Catalonia, where disagreements are also the order of the day, we forget to look at what is happening 600 kilometres away. The same games are being played both here, and in Madrid, and governments are a mishmash of differences in which verbal vehemence sometimes makes it seem like there is going to be a major debate and in the end everything is reduced to a conflagration that slowly wanes until the next flare-up arrives. That is what the coalition governments of today are like and when Sánchez is at the head of one, you get an executive which, in order to survive, is capable of betraying anyone and everyone. A long queue which the Polisario Front will probably now need to join.