When Morocco cries victory and its ally cries vengeance: the masquerade of the Russian veto

E. Lindqvist — Correspondant, New York (ONU) — 2026-11-02

Bourita's 'victory'

Let us first listen to the self-proclaimed victor. Nasser Bourita, head of Moroccan diplomacy, on 2M: 'The Russian veto did not surprise Morocco, which had anticipated the scenario.' Better still: this veto would be 'an opportunity' — the opportunity to close the page on MINURSO. Let us translate: the hammer blow we took, we had foreseen it; the defeat, we present it as a triumph. It is the loser's hindsight: we do not say 'we lost', we say 'we won — and we saw it coming.' The whole world saw the slap; Morocco, for its part, swears it had anticipated it.

Wilson's vengeance

Now let us listen to the ally. Joe Wilson, Republican congressman, one of Morocco's most faithful relays in Washington, published on 31 October a message of an entirely different tone. No 'victory' from him: fury. He denounces the veto that 'blocked' the American resolution. He demands sanctions against Algeria and the designation of the Polisario as a 'terrorist organization'. Let us translate: the resolution that Morocco calls an 'opportunity' is, for its American ally, a defeat to be avenged. There is no 'victory' in Wilson's words: there is the anger of a camp that lost.

The dissonance, which is the proof

There is the dissonance, and it is the proof. The same veto, two reactions: the client cries 'victory', the sponsor cries 'vengeance'. But these two cries cannot both be true at once. If the veto were a victory, Wilson would have nothing to sanction. If it were a defeat, Bourita would have nothing to celebrate. One of the two is lying — and we know which: the loser who needs to save face. Morocco is weeping over a victory that its own ally calls a defeat. That is the very definition of the masquerade.

The masquerade, and its mechanics

And the masquerade has a mechanics, perfectly oiled. Morocco cannot admit that it lost: it built its entire diplomacy on the idea that the Sahara was 'settled', sovereignty 'irreversible', the referendum 'buried'. A veto that shatters all of that is unbearable. So one reverses it: the defeat becomes an 'opportunity', the failure becomes a 'historic turning point', the slap becomes a 'victory'. But facts have one flaw: they do not follow the press releases. And the American ally, for its part, has no reason to play the comedy. It tells the truth: 'we lost — sanction Algeria.'

The conclusion

On 30 October, Morocco took a slap. Not a military defeat — a diplomatic defeat: its resolution vetoed, its MINURSO dead, its 'autonomy' never consecrated. And since then, it has done what the defeated do when they refuse to be defeated: it cries victory. But a cry does not cover a contradiction. The client cries victory, the sponsor cries vengeance. One is lying, the other is telling the truth. And the truth is that Morocco has just taken a hell of a slap — full in the face, before the whole world — and it has not finished covering it up.