US embassy cable - 05MADRID1879

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MADRID 001879 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/16/2015 
TAGS: PREL, SP 
SUBJECT: U.S.-SPAIN COUNCIL: MOD BONO EXPRESSES "PERSONAL 
OPPOSITION" TO LIFTING EU CHINA ARMS EMBARGO 
 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Kathy Fitzpatrick; reason 1.4 (B) 
 
1. (C) Summary.  The U.S.-Spain Council, a private 
bi-national NGO dedicated to strengthening U.S.-Spain 
relations, held its tenth annual meeting May 13-16 in 
Seville.  Participants included U.S. Council Chairman Senator 
Chris Dodd, EUR DAS Glyn Davies, Charge Manzanares, Spanish 
Minister of Defense Jose Bono, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel 
Moratinos, Spain Council Chairman Antonio Garrigues, regional 
political officials, and business leaders from both 
countries.  Prince Felipe hosted a dinner for meeting 
participants on the second evening of the event.  The most 
newsworthy development during the Council meetings was 
Minister of Defense Bono's strong, but personal, public 
support for maintaining the EU China arms embargo (while 
making clear that FM Moratinos had the final word on Spain's 
position on the arms embargo) and his acknowledgement that he 
may have committed "errors" during his tenure as MOD, a 
reference to his statements/measures that have upset 
U.S.-Spain bilateral relations.  Bono informed Charge that he 
had made both comments at the request of Secretary of Defense 
Rumsfeld.  Separately, Moratinos urged the creation of a 
U.S.-Spain bilateral commission to meet at the ministerial 
level on an annual basis to discuss regional issues of mutual 
concern, as well as recommending other measures to enhance 
bilateral relations.  While the comments of both ministers 
were largely positive, veiled swipes at opposition support 
for U.S. policy in Iraq reflected a continuing temptation to 
drag the USG into domestic political debates.  End Summary. 
 
//DEFENSE MINISTER ON CHINA ARMS EMBARGO// 
 
2. (C) Bono used a speech to participants in the tenth annual 
meeting of the U.S.-Spain Council to announce his personal 
opposition to the lifting of the EU arms embargo on China. 
He said that it did not make sense to lift the arms embargo 
now simply because "a particular EU country wants to sell 
weapons to China."  Bono told Charge privately that he had 
made this statement to honor a request made by Secretary 
Rumsfeld during their May 3 meeting in Washington that Bono 
make public his views on the China arms embargo. 
 
3. (C) While Bono was careful to note in his speech that FM 
Moratinos had the ultimate word on the China arms issue 
within the Spanish government, his comments nonetheless 
created a stir during an otherwise routine meeting of the 
Council.  Charge learned that FM Moratinos and Socialist 
Party Director for International Relations Trinidad Jimenez 
called Bono after his speech to criticize the way he had 
framed the issue.  Bono's comments came just hours after 
Moratinos' elaboration of a more nuanced position that tracks 
with that of its EU allies (see para 9.)  Bono's statement 
apparently came as a surprise to members of his staff as 
well; an MOD contact called Embassy's Spanish-national 
political assistant (who was present for the speech) to 
verify Bono's declaration. 
 
4. (C) Separately, Bono said during his speech that he may 
have committed "errors" during his tenure as Defense Minister 
and attributed these mistakes to his lack of experience in 
the MOD role.  Bono told Charge that this admission, like his 
comments opposing the lifting of the EU China arms embargo, 
came at the urging of Secretary Rumsfeld.  Bono made clear 
that he wanted Secretary Rumsfeld to be informed that he had 
complied with both requests. 
 
5. (C) Bono's comments were not uniformly positive.  He said 
international peace could not be achieved "without the U.S. 
or without the legitimacy (conferred by) the United Nations," 
an implicit defense of the Zapatero government's withdrawal 
of troops from Iraq on the grounds that the intervention 
lacked a UN mandate.  Also, Bono made a general comment to 
the effect that his Jesuit education had taught him that "the 
ends do not always justify the means."  (NOTE: Emboffs in 
attendance interpreted this as a veiled criticism of the Iraq 
conflict and of the opposition Popular Party's decision to 
join the U.S.-led coalition.  END NOTE.) 
 
//FOREIGN MINISTER CALLS FOR FORMATION OF U.S.-SPAIN 
BILATERAL COMMISSION// 
 
6. (U) Moratinos made a wide-ranging speech on U.S.-EU 
relations and praised President Bush's expression of support 
for a strong Europe during his February visit to Brussels. 
He said NATO remained Europe's primary security organization 
and argued that there was no contradiction between a strong 
NATO and the elaboration of a common EU security and defense 
policy.  Moratinos recommended increased personnel exchanges 
between the U.S. and the EU and the formation of an "EU 
caucus" in the U.S. Senate as mechanisms for further 
strengthening U.S.-EU ties.  Moratinos lauded the USG role in 
the international community, particularly its part in 
resolving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. 
 
7. (U) The most notable element of Moratinos' speech was his 
call for the establishment of a permanent U.S.-Spain 
bilateral commission to meet at least once a year at the 
ministerial level for discussions on regional issues, 
particularly on Latin America, the Middle East, and the 
Mediterranean basin.  Moratinos suggested other measures for 
strengthening U.S.-Spanish relations, including: 
 
-- joint initiatives to promote shared democratic values in 
North Africa and the Middle East; 
 
-- the reinforcement of institutional contacts, for example 
through events such as the June 6-10 visit to Washington by 
members of the Spanish Parliamentary Commission on 
International Relations; 
 
-- increased education exchanges to promote mutual 
understanding; 
 
-- the establishment of a joint scientific/industrial 
research and development institution; and, 
 
-- the formation of a joint business organization by private 
sector members of the U.S.-Spain Council. 
 
8. (U) Moratinos described current U.S.-Spain relations in 
positive terms.  He noted Spain's participation in 
peacekeeping efforts in Bosnia, Kosovo, Haiti, and 
Afghanistan and said Spain could be an important partner for 
the USG in other areas as well.  Moratinos said Spain's 
advantages included its place as the world's eight largest 
economy ("bigger than that of G-8 member Canada"), its 
influence in Latin America, North Africa, and the Middle 
East, and Spain's role in the fight against terrorism. 
 
9. (U) While focused on positive aspects of the bilateral 
relationship, Moratinos' speech also touched briefly on 
points of friction.  He said Spain had "recovered the 
capacity to engage" the Cuban and Venezuelan governments, 
overcoming the tensions those relationships suffered during 
the Aznar administration.  He insisted that Spain was not 
pursuing dialogue as an end in itself, but seeking increased 
influence in order to advocate for improved human rights 
practices on the part of the Cuban government and to preserve 
the rights that still exist in Venezuela.  On the EU China 
arms embargo, Moratinos noted that any arms sales would be 
governed by strict EU controls, but said Beijing had to take 
steps to improve human rights conditions before this issue 
could move forward. 
 
//PP PARTICIPANT TAKES SHOTS AT ZAPATERO// 
 
10. (U) Popular Party leader Mariano Rajoy declined an 
invitation to participate in the Council meetings, but PP 
Parliamentary spokesman on international relations Gustavo 
Aristegui did attend and mounted a withering attack on 
Zapatero's handling of U.S.-Spain relations.  Aristegui said 
the GOS was now taking steps to correct its early mistakes, 
but without publicly acknowledging that it had committed 
grave errors.  His Socialist counterpart Rafael Estrella 
(considered among the more pro-U.S. Socialist 
parliamentarians) fired back, asking how the USG would view 
it if a former president visited Europe to militate 
unceasingly against the policies of an incumbent 
administration.  (NOTE: Both Aristegui and Estrella will be 
part of the Parliamentary delegation that will visit 
Washington June 6-10.  They have invited Charge to meet with 
them prior to their departure to review their agenda for the 
visit.) 
 
//COMMENT// 
 
11. (C) MOD Bono is among the most popular Spanish 
politicians and his speech before the U.S.-Spain Council 
demonstrated his rhetorical skills.  He used the presence of 
the media and USG officials to comply with assurances he had 
reportedly made to Secretary Rumsfeld, while leaving to FM 
Moratinos the unpleasant duty of clarifying Spain's official 
position on the EU China arms embargo.  For now, the GOS has 
evidently opted not to clarify the matter publicly in order 
to avoid the appearance of internal discord.  More broadly, 
we note that both Bono and Moratinos continue to fight a 
two-front political battle with the opposition PP, on the one 
hand claiming that relations with the USG are as strong as 
ever, and on the other casting PP support for USG policies in 
Iraq as somehow illegitimate and contrary to international 
law.  GOS officials have clearly tempered their public 
statements on Iraq in the last five months, but our efforts 
to keep them from dragging the USG into their domestic 
political battles remain a work in progress. 
NEALON