25 years ago: World leaders mourn a ruthless despot, King Hassan of Morocco

On July 23, 1999, King Hassan of Morocco died in Rabat at the age of 70 after 38 years on the throne. Known as the “Great Survivor” by his political opponents, Hassan became the longest-reigning monarch in the Arab world after the death of King Hussein of Jordan. He became king in 1961, upon the death of his father. His crown remained intact while monarchs in Libya, Iran and Iraq fell. He survived half a dozen coups and assassination attempts.

During his 38 years of despotic rule, he played a crucial role in helping Israel survive as a Zionist state at the expense of the Palestinians. He suppressed the Polisario rebels in the phosphate-rich Western Sahara and Islamic fundamentalists in Morocco itself. He opened up the Moroccan economy as a platform for cheap mineral resources and manufactured goods, especially clothing for the European market.

Delegations and representatives from more than 60 countries flocked to the Moroccan capital to pay their respects to the faithful servant of imperialism. That more than a few put aside their public differences with each other and Morocco to attend spoke volumes about the volatile nature of international relations.

The U.S. delegation included President Bill Clinton, who cut short a fundraising trip to Colorado to attend; former President George H.W. Bush; and two former secretaries of state who played key roles in previous Middle East peace processes: James Baker and Warren Christopher.

President Jacques Chirac represented France, which ruled Morocco under the Treaty of Fez from 1912 to 1956. “We have lost a man who loved France and the French people – we feel immense pain,” Chirac said. King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia represented Spain, which also once ruled part of Morocco. Prince Charles and Foreign Secretary Robin Cook represented Britain.

Yassir Arafat came from Palestine. Hafez el-Assad, the Syrian president, backed out at the last minute but sent his deputy, Mohammed Zuhair Masharqua. President Hosni Mubarak represented Egypt. All these leaders had, at least publicly, opposed Hassan because he had friendly relations with Israel, represented at the funeral by Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister David Levy. Shimon Peres, a former Israeli prime minister, said: “With his passing, we lose one of the most experienced and wise leaders this region has known in the past half century.”

50 years ago: Portugal grants independence to colonies

On July 24, 1974, António de Spínola, the president of the military junta that had recently taken power in Portugal, announced that his government would support the independence of Portugal’s colonies in Africa and officially end the colonial wars that had bankrupted the former fascist regime. The announcement came amid a period of revolutionary uprising by both Portuguese workers and oppressed masses in Angola, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Mozambique, and Portuguese Guinea.

At the time of the announcement, Portugal was only three months into the popular uprising that had overthrown the fascist Estado Novo regime, founded in 1926 by Antonio Salazar. Amid a period of mass strikes that threatened to develop into a revolutionary movement in the working class, the Armed Forces Movement (MFA), led by Spínola, seized power on April 25, 1974.

The military coup was intended to pre-empt a socialist revolution by the working class and end the mass strikes of workers by promising a series of reforms. However, the working class responded to the coup with even greater mass action, occupying the streets and continuing strikes in major industries.

One of the main demands of the Portuguese workers was an immediate end to the wars that had been ravaging Portugal’s African colonies for more than 13 years. Beginning with the uprising of oppressed colonial workers in Angola in 1961, a series of national liberation movements and guerrilla struggles developed throughout Portuguese-ruled Africa, the last colonial empire on that continent.