US embassy cable - 04MADRID4063

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 004063 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/15/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, SP, American - Spanish Relations 
SUBJECT: DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER REGRETS UNHELPFUL MOD 
COMMENTS, SEEKS TO PUT RELATIONS BACK ON TRACK 
 
REF: EMBASSY MADRID E-MAIL TO EUR/WE OF OCTOBER 14 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Kathleen M. Fitzpatrick for reasons 
1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
DFM Leon Agrees that Bono's Comments Were Unhelpful 
 
 
1.  (C)  Deputy Foreign Minister Bernardino Leon told DCM 
Manzanares Oct. 14 that he agreed that DefMin Bono's comments 
last week about US-Spain relations and the US role in the 
Spanish National Day Parade were extremely unhelpful.  Leon 
promised there would be no further comments from President 
Zapatero that could be construed as anti-American, but that 
Bono was hard to control (note:  Bono is a skilled politician 
who loves publicity and is known for his long-winded public 
comments).  Leon said, however, that the Ambassador's 
non-attendance at the King's National Day reception -- 
however taken out of context by the press -- had struck a 
difficult chord in the government. 
 
DCM Confirms Ambassador Had No Intention of Snubbing the King 
 
 
2.  (C)  Manzanares responded that the Ambassador had no 
intention to snub the King or the Spanish people, and had in 
fact spoken with the King who was understanding of the 
Ambassador's difficulty in attending the reception as well as 
the Ambassador's prior decision, known to the GOS, not to 
attend the National Day parade. Manzanares told Leon that 
comments from senior government officials that put the issue 
in the most negative light possible were very unhelpful, and 
reached Washington just as fast as they reached the press in 
Madrid.  Manzanares said the perception both in Madrid and 
Washington is that the current government exhibits very 
strong anti-Americanism, though we do not think that it is 
the intent of the government to portray itself in this way. 
 
3.  (C)  Leon said that there exists in Spain not so much 
anti-Americanism per se, but a broad anti-Bush administration 
sentiment, focused not on personalities but on policy. 
Manzanares asked Leon how the Zapatero government planned to 
put itself right with either a new Bush administration or a 
Kerry administration, noting that democracies need to come to 
terms with one another no matter which government was in 
power. 
 
U.S. Policies Post-Election 
 
 
4.  (C)  Manzanares noted that even if another party wins the 
U.S. election, most of our foreign policy challenges - Iraq, 
Iran, counter-terrorism, etc. will remain the same, so that 
the Spanish government needs to come to terms with this and 
find ways to put the relationship back on track.  Leon said 
that the U.S. should look at Spain's actions more than recent 
words.  For example, Leon said that Spain sent over 1000 
troops to Afghanistan -- a large deployment for Spain -- as a 
sign of goodwill toward the U.S.  Manzanares replied that we 
very much appreciated Spain's participation in Afghanistan, 
but there need to be more signals.  Leon promised there would 
be other such signs.  Manzanares noted that the U.S. was not 
concerned about Spain's desire to move toward what Spain saw 
as the "heart of Europe."  The U.S. believes Europeans can 
remain close to the U.S. as well as their European 
counterparts. 
 
Leon Offers to Publicly Stress U.S.-Spain Cooperation 
 
 
5.  (C)  What we object to, Manzanares continued, is being 
the "political football" Spain uses as it seeks to reinforce 
its European policy.  "Anti-Americanism is not a foreign 
policy, " Manzanares said.  Leon agreed, and asked if it 
would be helpful if he would draft a public statement (or 
op/ed) highlighting the importance of U.S.-Spanish 
cooperation.  Manzanares said that would be very helpful and 
would welcome the idea of such a piece by the Spanish 
government. 
 
U.S. Has Been Patient 
 
 
6.  (C)  Reviewing relations since the March 14 elections, 
Manzanares underscored that the US had been very patient and 
mature these last few months.  The U.S. has refrained from 
responding to aggressive anti-US rhetoric as we looked for 
the new government to settle in, become more experienced and 
as we ourselves focused on our longer-term interests in 
Spain.  Continued anti-U.S. rhetoric from high GOS levels, 
however, was forcing us to reconsider this restraint and 
respond more aggressively.  Leon said he understood and hoped 
that this would not be necessary.  Returning to the theme of 
Zapatero's comments, such as those in Tunis several weeks 
ago, Manzanares asked Leon why Zapatero had not taken the 
opportunity to retract his statements after Secretary Powell 
had spoken to FM Moratinos.  Leon said that Zapatero had not 
intended the remarks the way they were taken and pointed to 
comments Zapatero had made in Bilbao the following day as 
being pro-American.  Manzanares pointed out that we had not 
seen these comments in Bilbao and they were not highlighted 
in the press here. 
 
Other issues: 
 
 
6.  (C)  Cuba:  Leon said the GOS did not want a wholesale 
change in the EU policy toward Cuba, but rather to modify it 
somewhat to allow EU Ambassadors and diplomats access to 
Castro and other Cuban officials in order to press home the 
need for reform.  Leon underscored there were no personal 
relations with Castro among members of the Socialist 
government in the way that existed during the previous 
Socialist government under Felipe Gonzalez.  Leon said if the 
other Europeans did not agree with Spain on the Cuba issue, 
Spain would not adopt a unilateral policy. 
 
7.  (C)  Western Sahara:  Leon noted the excellent meeting he 
had had with A/S Burns several weeks ago in which they 
discussed Western Sahara.  He said that Spanish and U.S. 
positions were relatively the same, and pointed to the French 
position -- embodied by Chirac himself -- as being the 
problem in finding a way forward.  Leon characterized 
Chirac's position in support of Rabat as "stronger than that 
of the King of Morocco."  He pledged to continue to work with 
the USG on the issue. 
ARGYROS