Her face looks tired. Her eyes are sad and she practically doesn't move from the mattress where she has been lying since Saturday. The Sahrawi activist Aminatou Haidar began a hunger strike at the Guacimeta airport in Lanzarote at 12:00 a.m. this Sunday, which she will prolong until "the Spanish Government returns me to my land." If this does not happen, she assures that she will continue "until death."
Her voice fades every minute. The support of Sahrawi citizens who spend the day with her and even Lanzarote residents who are showing solidarity with this cause help her to move forward. But she is tired. And, more than tired, she feels outraged. "This is a huge humiliation," she says, while covering herself with a blanket and leaning on her new bed.
So far, Haidar has not received any direct communication from the Government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. "No one from the Government has come, no one has come to see the situation," she laments. The Sahrawi activist does not understand why she is "detained" in Spain, when her situation is "absolutely illegal."
"The lies" of Moratinos
Despite her fragile state, she has harsh words for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, who declared that Aminatou had entered the country legally, since she has a residence card. "This is not legal, she should have entered with a passport. What Moratinos said is a lie, an absolute lie and an absolute complicity with the Moroccan Government," she insists.
Haidar feels "handcuffed" against her will. For this reason, she will carry out her hunger strike with "determination", if necessary "until death". "This is my claim," she says, surrounded by citizens of her town. The Sahrawi activist trusts that "there will be international pressure on the Spanish Government", which will make it act.
In addition, she affirms that she hopes to receive the support of "all the Spanish people" and thanks the media for making "daily reports" on her condition. These news, according to Haidar, serve "as pressure" for the central Executive to "do something". This woman has the support of the Robert Kennedy Center and the American Government. "I am sure that there will be a solution. I don't feel alone," she admits.
But in her eyes you can see the suffering, the pain of being away from her loved ones, her family and her two children. "The children are crying all day. They were waiting for me at the El Aaiún airport and received the news that I was being held by the Moroccan police and that I was later deported. They know that I am on a hunger strike and they are very worried," she laments.
Support from compatriots
Ali Salem spends 24 hours with Aminatou Haidar, giving her his support and attending to the media. This Sahrawi citizen has been living in Lanzarote for years and plans to stay in Guacimeta accompanying his compatriot. "Aminatou is kicked out of the airport every night and has to go outside to sleep. She has no place to sleep at night. They take her out of the airport and we all go outside. At 6:00 a.m. they let her back in," Salem says.
He is absolutely outraged by the activist's situation and cannot explain the Spanish Government's actions in this matter. "She was expelled from her own land and has entered Spain illegally. She cannot be here, she is here illegally, they should not have let her in," he indicates.
And the problem is that Aminatou was able to enter Spain without a passport but cannot leave the country without this document. For this reason, Salem asks himself: "if it is illegal, how did she enter?, can't she also leave illegally?, why don't they return her to her land, why? Questions that, for the moment, do not get an answer.
The PP asks the Government
During Monday, several political leaders have approached to learn about Aminatou Haidar's situation first-hand. If this weekend the president of the Cabildo, Pedro San Ginés, as well as the councilor Marci Acuña, or the president of Coalición Canaria, Claudina Morales, already went to the airport, this Monday the national deputy of the PP, Cándido Reguera, and the senator of this formation, Loly Luzardo, have traveled to Guacimeta.
These two leaders have announced that the PP has presented a battery of ten questions in Congress, in order for the Spanish Government to respond on the situation of the Sahrawi activist. "We want to ask what actions have been taken before the Moroccan Government to resolve this issue," Reguera indicated.
"The PP will have a position of active neutrality, always within international law and within the United Nations Forum," said the national deputy of the populars, who also pointed out that "it is convenient for Spain to get along with Morocco. "It cannot be otherwise," he stressed.
Aena's version
For its part, the management of the airport of Lanzarote has assured that Aminatou Haidar will be able to stay at the aerodrome for "as long as she wants", since she is "in a public place". "We cannot kick her out of there, but the facility opens and closes, and at night she cannot be inside," Aena sources in Guacimeta have assured.
These same sources have assured that Haidar "is doing well", although they have nevertheless affirmed that if she needs medical assistance "she will have it". "If something happens to her, the airport doctor will be called. They will attend to her if her situation worsens due to the hunger strike. If she wants to stay, she stays, but she will not lack medical attention," they have stressed.
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