Cable sobre la visita de Felipe González a Irán

ID

78155

Etiquetas

PREL, PGOV, SMIG, SP

Fecha

2006-09-13 08:12:00

RefID

06MADRID2281

Origen

Embassy Madrid

Clasificación

CONFIDENTIAL

Destino

06MADRID2281

Encabezado

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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0721

INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 0230

RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR PRIORITY 0110

RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 0323

RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ PRIORITY 1195

RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 5969

RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA PRIORITY 2059

RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0200

RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA PRIORITY 0149

Contenido

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 002281

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/13/2016

TAGS: PREL, PGOV, SMIG, SP

SUBJECT: SPAIN: FM MORATINOS ON MIDEAST, NORTH AFRICA,

LATIN AMERICA AND MIGRATION

REF: EUR/WE E-MAIL OF 09/08/2006

MADRID 00002281 001.2 OF 002

Classified By: Amb. Eduardo A. Aguirre Jr. for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

1. (C) SUMMARY: During his trip to Ronda in southern

Spain's Andalucia region, Ambassador Aguirre spent the

afternoon and evening of September 9 with Foreign Minister

Miguel Angel Moratinos. Ambassador pressed Moratinos on

recent incendiary comments from President Zapatero regarding

Iraq, and he raised the pending sale of patrol boats to

Venezuela. Outside the confines of the capital, Moratinos

spoke candidly about several issues, voicing pessimism about

progress on Iran and Syria and expressing confidence in his

position within the GOS. He indicated that Spain's top

foreign policy priorities are the Middle East, North Africa

(Western Sahara and the Moroccan bilateral relationship), and

the continuing issue of illegal immigration from Sub-Saharan

Africa. Moratinos also touched on the recent shakeup in his

ministry with the addition of Trini Jimenez at the deputy

minister level, saying that he expected Deputy FM Bernardino

Leon's influence would not be adversely impacted and Leon

would retain direct control of relations with the U.S., Cuba

and Bolivia, three key foreign policy issues for Spain. In a

September 11 telcon with Ambassador, Leon expressed the same

sentiment. END SUMMARY.

//IRAN, SYRIA, LEBANON//

2. (C) Moratinos asked whether Ambassador had seen his

letter to Secretary Rice on the Middle East/Iran (faxed from

Spanish Embassy Washington to EUR/WE on September 8) and said

he hoped he would have the chance to follow up with the

Secretary at UNGA. Ambassador promised to check on the

SIPDIS

Secretary's reply.

SIPDIS

3. (C) Moratinos expressed pessimism on Iran, and he is

increasingly inclined to view the issue as a global crisis.

He said that a solution to Iran's nuclear ambitions may be

beyond reach. Moratinos told Ambassador that the recent

visit by Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Lariyani came at

Iran's request. According to Moratinos, President Zapatero

agreed to the visit warily, and his meeting with Lariyani was

nothing more than an exchange of pleasantries. NOTE:

Embassy will report septel on Spain's Iran activism. END

NOTE.

4. (C) Regarding the recent trip to Iran of former Spanish

President Felipe Gonzalez, Moratinos said that no one in the

GOS had asked him to go, although they did not object when

Gonzalez notified them of his intended travel. Moratinos

expressed disappointment in Gonzalez' comments in Iran,

saying that there was no value added, but perhaps some value

lost. NOTE: In his remarks, Gonzalez went well beyond the

current Western position on Iran, stating that the current

crisis was an opportunity for engagement and defending Iran's

right to nonmilitary nuclear development. END NOTE.

5. (C) Ambassador, drawing on ref points, asked Moratinos

for Spain's help in ensuring that Hizbollah not be allowed to

rearm, that the Syrian-Lebanese border be tightly monitored,

and that Syria be held accountable for any re-supply of

Hizbollah. Moratinos said that he was of the same mind.

Moratinos also noted that Spain's presence in Lebanon was

critical and was evidence of their unwavering commitment to a

solution in the Middle East.

//ZAPATERO OFF MESSAGE//

6. (C) Ambassador took the opportunity to raise the recent

controversial comments made by President Zapatero in a

September 8 interview in Germany, in which the Spanish

President seemed to go out of his way to blame international

terrorism on the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Ambassador told

Moratinos that his understanding was that the GOS was going

to put Iraq in the past in the interest of the bilateral

relationship. Ambassador said that he had chosen not to

respond to these particular remarks, part of what has been an

ongoing nuisance. However, if the Government of Spain wished

to continue with its rhetorical barbs, then the Ambassador

would oblige. Moratinos responded that he too was perturbed

by Zapatero's comments and spoke with the President after the

interview. He stated his belief that Zapatero would refrain

from such statements in the future. NOTE: In his September

MADRID 00002281 002 OF 002

11 address at the ASEM summit in Helsinki, Zapatero took a

more restrained approach and focused not on the United States

but on the global crisis of international terrorism. END NOTE.

//MIGRATION: NO HELP FROM WEST AFRICA//

7. (C) On illegal immigration, Moratinos expressed great

frustration. He noted that Spain's diplomatic efforts in

West Africa are yielding little tangible results, and he

singled out Senegal in particular as a country that agreed to

cooperate (after a visit by VP Fernandez de la Vega) but has

done little. Ambassador only half-jokingly noted that there

are four warships currently under construction in Spain that

could be used for patrolling the West African coast if the

sale to Venezuela were to be canceled. COMMENT: A recent

poll showed a four percent drop in President Zapatero's

approval rating since July, with illegal immigration as the

leading issue of concern. The Zapatero government appears to

be at somewhat of a loss for how to handle the situation, and

it is having difficulty making the issue a top priority in

the European Union. END COMMENT.

//BOLIVIA AND CUBA//

8. (C) Moratinos opined that Evo Morales was not fully in

charge in Bolivia and that he was saying one thing and doing

another. Moratinos said Spain is having minimal success

establishing credibility and traction with the Morales

government, noting that while Morales has tried to assuage

Spanish concerns about their hydrocarbon interests, people in

his own government do not appear to be under his control.

Moratinos views Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Marcelo Garcia

Linera as the real power in La Paz.

9. (C) On Cuba, Moratinos said that Deputy Minister

Bernardino Leon is in Cuba now and could provide Ambassador

with a readout upon his return. Ambassador reminded

Moratinos that the United States is still interested in a

joint statement on Cuba. Moratinos replied that the planned

meeting in New York with A/S Shannon will be a good

opportunity to discuss the situation frankly.

//FEELING GOOD//

10. (C) Moratinos told the Ambassador that he feels very

confident about his position in the GOS and that what he

called recent Spanish foreign policy "successes" have

empowered him to continue pursuing an aggressive agenda. He

also told Ambassador that the recent addition of PSOE foreign

policy advisor Trinidad Jimenez as Secretary of State for

Iberoamerica was not intended to reduce the influence of

current Secretary of State for Foreign Policy Bernardino

Leon. Rather, the move frees up Leon to truly act as a

deputy with oversight throughout the ministry, and Leon will

still hold the Bolivia, Cuba and United States accounts.

During a September 11 telcon, Leon told Ambassador much the

same. Leon said his travel load will likely not change in

the immediate future, though presumably Jimenez will do more

traveling once she is up to speed.

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Visit Embassy Madrid's Classified Website;

http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/madrid/

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AGUIRRE;"