Moroccan lobbying does not let Algeria go. A Republican American senator known for his actions in favor of the kingdom has returned to the charge by calling for sanctions against Algeria.
Curiously, the exit of Mario Rubio occurred the same day of the audience granted by the chief of staff of the Algerian army to the ambassador of the United States in Algiers, Thursday, September 14.
Marco Rubio is known for his lobbying actions in favor of Morocco. With the other senator Ted Cruz, he had activities remunerated by the Moroccan government through the company JPC Strategies, belonging to Cruz’s chief of staff, Jeff Christopherson. As evidenced by company documents, the two men received at least $445,000.
Moreover, Cruz is credited with the delay in the installation of the United States ambassador to Algeria, Elisabeth Moore Aubin, appointed in 2021 but who did not take office until 2022.
This time, his friend Rubio is taking advantage of the international situation marked by the war in Ukraine to call outright for sanctions against Algeria because of the arms purchases it makes from Russia.
In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the senator, who is vice-chairman of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, names Algeria as one of the main customers of the Russian arms industry.
“Algeria is also among the top four buyers of Russian arms globally, culminating in a $7 billion arms deal in 202,” he wrote.
Believing that “the influx of money from all sources to Russia will only strengthen the Russian war machine in Ukraine” and that “the sanctions that are available (…) have not yet been used”, Marco Rubio “encourages” Blinken to “take seriously the Russian threat” and to “appropriately designate parties whose significant purchase of Russian equipment enables Russia’s destabilizing actions”.
“Deference” to the West
The senator relies on a text adopted in 2017, Countering America’s adversaries through the sanctions act.
Mr. Rubio points out that article 231 of the text orders the American president to take sanctions against the parties “engaged in significant transactions” with the Russian defense and intelligence sectors, and recalls that “the president has delegated this power to the Secretary of State.
A similar bill was recently passed by the House of Representatives and sparked strong reactions in Africa. This is the Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act.
Under this text, African states will not be able to buy oil from Russia and will only be allowed to buy grain from it if it is proven that it “has not been stolen from Ukraine”. Americans believe that oil revenues help sustain Russia’s war effort.
During Antony Blinken’s trip to South Africa in early August, his South African counterpart strongly criticized the text and called on the US Senate to reject it, believing that it is intended to sanction African states that do not show deference to Westerners.
