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The United Nations has ended its decadeslong peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara, a non-self-governing territory that Morocco has occupied since 1975. It’s widely described as “Africa’s last colony.” On Sunday, the 35-year-old mission known as MINURSO came to an end after the United Nations Security Council failed to renew its mandate. It had been repeatedly extended since MINURSO was established in 1991. The mandate failed after Russia vetoed a draft U.S. resolution supporting Morocco’s sovereignty claims over Western Sahara, while ending U.N. peacekeeping operations next year. The council then failed to agree to a rival Russian resolution. In 2020, the Trump administration made the U.S. the first country in the world to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over occupied Western Sahara, as part of a deal to normalize relations between Morocco and Israel.
Special guests Angela Davis, Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, Michael Stipe and more came together to celebrate 30 years of Democracy Now! at a sold out Riverside Church event in NYC on March 23, 2026.
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