---
title: Colombia Switches Sides on Western Sahara and Will Not Back the Sahrawi Republic at the UN
description: Colombia now recognises Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and has frozen relations with the Sahrawi republic, weeks before a UN mandate vote.
author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2026-08-12T07:58:49.435Z
updated: 2026-08-12T07:58:49.442Z
canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/colombia-western-sahara-morocco-un-vote
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/colombia-western-sahara-cali-141431.webp
categories: Politics
content_type: News
region: Global
publication: Sovereign Magazine
schema_type: Article
---

Colombia's foreign ministry said on 10 August that it recognises Moroccan sovereignty over all of Western Sahara and has frozen relations with the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, reversing a position the country first took in 1985 and restored four years ago.

“Colombia recognises Morocco's sovereignty over all its territory, including Western Sahara, and in that context the position of the Government of Colombia will be to freeze relations with the SADR from today,” the [ministry said](https://www.cancilleria.gov.co/sala-de-prensa/noticias/colombia-congela-relaciones-diplomaticas-con-la-entidad-denominada-como-republica-arabe-saharaui-democratica-rasd). The freeze covers political and diplomatic contacts, the exchange of missions and support for the Sahrawi republic in multilateral forums, which the statement specifies as including “the United Nations and the Security Council, where Colombia currently serves as a non-permanent member”. Bogota says it reached the decision after a sovereign review of the recognition granted by the previous government, and notes that the United Nations does not recognise the SADR as a member state.

## The UN Mission's Mandate Runs Out on 31 October

Colombia holds one of the ten elected non-permanent seats on the Security Council, with a term that runs to 2027. The [mandate of MINURSO](https://minurso.unmissions.org/en/security-council-resolutions-and-statements), the UN mission for the referendum in Western Sahara, expires on 31 October 2026, after the Council extended it by a year under Resolution 2797 in 2025. Colombia will be at the table for the renewal, having just said it will not support the Sahrawi republic there. Its foreign ministry says the decision respects international law, the UN Charter and the scenario set out in Resolution 2797.

## The Switch Was Announced During the New President's Inauguration Week

The announcement was made on Friday 7 August at a meeting in Cali between Vice-President Jose Manuel Restrepo, Foreign Minister Omar Bula Escobar and Morocco's foreign minister, Nasser Bourita, who was in the city on the instructions of King Mohammed VI to represent him at the investiture of President Abelardo De la Espriella. The new government took office that week, and the ministry's account of the following day lists bilateral meetings in Cali with delegations from twelve countries, among them the United States, Brazil, Spain, Japan and Israel.

“Every country expects to restart certain relations that were affected in recent times, and I know they have in mind that this new government is a total renewal, both of governance at national level and in international relations,” Bula Escobar said in his ministry's account of those meetings. On the same day as the Western Sahara statement, Colombia also recognised Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Colombia and the Sahrawi republic established diplomatic relations in 1985 under President Belisario Betancur. Andres Pastrana froze them in 2001, and Gustavo Petro restored them in August 2022, the Spanish news agency EFE reported.

## The Polisario Front Has Asked Colombia to Reconsider

Morocco's foreign ministry said Restrepo called the announcement “a new beginning” for ties between the two countries and described Morocco as “Colombia's first ally in Africa”. Bourita called the decision “historic” and said it could give “great momentum” to the relationship, arguing that the two countries could serve as economic platforms for each other given their positions in Africa and Latin America. The Colombian statement lists what the two governments intend to work on: trade, investment, tourism, food security, port and logistics development, and Atlantic connectivity.

The Polisario Front, which proclaimed the Sahrawi republic, rejected the decision. “Western Sahara is a non-self-governing territory pending decolonisation,” said Mohamed Zrug, its representative for Latin America. “Its final status can only be determined through the free and genuine exercise of the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination and independence. Recognition of a purported Moroccan sovereignty is therefore a decision contrary to the principles of international law.” In a statement, the front said the move helps to legitimise a situation stemming from what it calls a military occupation, argued that it contradicts Article 9 of Colombia's Constitution, which bases the country's foreign relations on the self-determination of peoples, and warned that it obstructs United Nations and African Union efforts on the dispute.

Morocco has controlled roughly 80 per cent of Western Sahara since Spain withdrew in 1975, and in 2007 it put an autonomy plan for the territory, under Moroccan sovereignty, to the United Nations.

## FAQ

**Q: Why is Western Sahara disputed?**
Morocco claims sovereignty over the whole territory and administers most of it. The Polisario Front, which proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, says Western Sahara is non-self-governing and pending decolonisation, and that its status can only be settled by a vote on self-determination.

**Q: Why is Western Sahara not officially a country?**
The United Nations does not recognise the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic as a member state, and the territory's status is still unresolved at the UN. Morocco's own answer to the question, put to the UN in 2007, is an autonomy plan for the territory under Moroccan sovereignty.

**Q: What is MINURSO and when does its mandate expire?**
MINURSO is the UN mission for the referendum in Western Sahara. The Security Council extended its mandate by a year under Resolution 2797, adopted in 2025, taking it to 31 October 2026, when the Council must vote again on renewal.