US embassy cable - 05MADRID3492

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 MADRID 003492 
 
SIPDIS 
 
G FOR U/S DOBRIANSKY AND BIBBINS SEDACA 
EUR/WE FOR ALLEGRONE, CLEMENTS, AND HALL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/28/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, SP 
SUBJECT: SPAIN: U/S DOBRIANSKY'S MEETING WITH FM MORATINOS 
 
Classified By: DCM Bob Manzanares; reason 1.4 (B) and (D) 
 
1. (C) Summary.  Under Secretary for Democracy and Global 
Affairs Paula Dobriansky visited Madrid on 9/27 and met with 
Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos and Director General 
for Political Affairs Rafael Dezcallar for wide-ranging 
discussions on democracy promotion, potential areas for 
collaboration in the Broader Middle East and Latin America, 
avian flu, and climate change.  Moratinos said U.S.-Spain 
relations were on a positive track and identified cooperation 
in counterterrorism and in the rebuilding of Afghanistan as 
key elements of the bilateral relationship.  He emphasized 
Spain's efforts to help the Iraqi government get through its 
current difficulties.  Moratinos discussed his recent meeting 
with NEA PDAS Elizabeth Cheney in which he announced Spanish 
support for BMENA initiatives.  U/S Dobriansky noted the 
USG's desire to collaborate on the Alliance of Civilizations, 
but also flagged some concern regarding the reported 
participation by former Iranian President Khatami as a member 
of the UN High Level Group.  She urged Spanish support for 
the Budapest International Center for Democratic Transition; 
FM Moratinos said Spain strongly backed the Center and was 
working with Hungary on democracy promotion in the Balkans. 
On Venezuela, Dobriansky asked that Spain encourage EU 
vigilance during its election monitoring and asked that 
Moratinos work to halt the sale of Spanish ships and planes 
to the Chavez government.  Moratinos said the Spanish 
equipment was "mainly for transportation," but also noted 
that no final contract had been signed yet with Venezuela. 
Moratinos suggested the USG and Spain work together to 
convene a seminar in Venezuela to help strengthen civil 
society and opposition groups. In a follow-on meeting with 
Dezcallar, U/S Dobriansky discussed support for Cuban 
democracy activists, USG efforts on avian flu, Magen David 
Adom, and, climate change.   End Summary. 
 
2. (C) U/S Dobriansky thanked Moratinos for Spain's moral and 
material support in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and for the 
expressions of condolence following the crash of the U.S. 
helicopter in Afghanistan.  Moratinos said bilateral 
relations were strong and cited cooperation against terrorism 
and collaboration in the rebuilding of Afghanistan as 
priorities in the bilateral relationship.  He noted Spain's 
agreement to host a United States official in its PRT in 
western Afghanistan, which DG Dezcallar confirmed but said 
required a "memorandum of understanding" before the USG 
official could join the PRT.  (NOTE: The Embassy later 
clarified with Dezcallar that Spain would incorporate the 
State Department officer in the PRT, but only after final 
agreement on the terms of his participation and after the 
Spanish civilian component had been established in Qal-i-Naw. 
 END NOTE). 
 
//IRAQ// 
 
3. (C) Turning to Iraq, Moratinos emphasized Spain's 
forward-looking posture, saying the Spanish government was 
beyond its previous concerns regarding Iraq and wanted to 
help the Iraqi government get past its current crisis.  As 
examples he cited Spain's financial contribution to support 
the Iraqi electoral system and its dispatch of a medical 
aircraft to retrieve victims of the bridge stampede for 
treatment in Spain.  Dezcallar also noted that Spain had 
selected the Iraqi military members who would participate in 
de-mining training in Spain.  Moratinos said that Spain had 
wanted to send its ambassador to Iraq to Baghdad, but the 
killings of diplomats from several countries had convinced 
them that the security situation remained too unstable.  He 
said that EU foreign ministries, whose missions would be 
outside Baghdad's Green Zone, were reviewing possible joint 
solutions to secure their embassies. 
 
//BMENA - ALLIANCE OF CIVILIZATIONS// 
 
4. (C) U/S Dobriansky expressed appreciation for Spain's 
contributions in Iraq and said training for lawmakers would 
also be useful and welcome, since democracy and human rights 
were closely intertwined.  FM Moratinos discussed his recent 
conversation with NEA PDAS Elizabeth Cheney on the margins of 
the UNGA, saying he had used the meeting to announce Spain's 
intention to contribute financially to BMENA.  Dobriansky 
said the USG would greatly appreciate contributions for both 
the Fund for the Future and the Foundation for the Future. 
She discussed the USG's interest in supporting the Alliance 
of Civilizations, though there was also some concern 
regarding the possible participation of former Iranian 
President Khatami in the UN High Level Group formed to 
promote the initiative.  Dezcallar said that Khatami might be 
on one of the High Level Group panels, but that decisions 
regarding the makeup of the High Level Group rested with the 
UN Secretary General.  He suggested Khatami might not be 
interested in participating since he had been a major backer 
of the "Dialogue of Civilizations," which never made any 
progress.  Moratinos said this was the first time he had 
heard that Khatami's participation might pose problems for 
the USG. 
 
//PRO DEMOCRACY ACTIVITIES// 
 
5. (C) U/S Dobriansky encouraged Spanish support for the 
Budapest-based International Center for Democratic 
Transition, particularly in light of Spain's own transition 
from dictatorship to democracy, as well as its lessons 
learned on transitioning from a monarchy to a constitutional 
monarchy, a lesson which could be of use to other monarchies 
in the world today.  Moratinos noted that he had mentioned 
the Budapest Center during his speech at the last meeting of 
the Community of Democracies and said Spain was working with 
Hungary in democracy promotion activities in the Balkans.  He 
said North Africa, particularly Algeria and Morocco, required 
international support to move them in a positive direction. 
Moratinos suggested that the U.S. and Spanish Embassies in 
Rabat could work together in this effort.  Dobriansky pointed 
to Morocco's recent appointment in the Convening Group of the 
Community of Democracies as a positive development. 
 
//VENEZUELA// 
 
6. (C) Moratinos discussed his participation in President 
Zapatero's March visit to Venezuela, during which he met with 
the leaders of the Venezuelan pro-democracy NGO "Sumate." 
U/S Dobriansky stressed the need for the USG and Spain to 
work together in Venezuela and urged Spain to ensure EU 
vigilance in its monitoring of the upcoming elections.  She 
asked that Moratinos do everything possible to halt the 
Spanish arms sale to Venezuela, a sale that sent the wrong 
signal to both the Chavez government and the opposition. 
Moratinos insisted that the equipment being sold to Venezuela 
was primarily transport equipment, but also said that no 
contract had been signed between Spain and Venezuela 
regarding the sale. 
 
7. (C) Moratinos said that Chavez' electoral victory, and his 
subsequent win in the referendum, complicated efforts to deal 
with him.  He emphasized the need to work with the 
opposition, "whose own political mismanagement in a sense 
gave birth to Chavez."  He asked that we come back to them 
with some specific proposals as to how to help the 
opposition.  Moratinos said the USG and Spain should not pick 
favorites, but should work closely to strengthen the 
opposition and help them rebuild legitimacy.  He said we need 
to look for opportunities to support the judiciary, media, 
and legal sectors.  He suggested the USG and Spain jointly 
convene a seminar aimed at strengthening civil society. 
 
//MEETING WITH DG FOR FOREIGN POLICY DEZCALLAR// 
 
8. (C) Immediately following her meeting with Moratinos, U/S 
Dobriansky continued her discussion on Venezuela with DG 
Dezcallar.  She urged Spain to use its considerable influence 
to support the work of pro-democracy activists in Latin 
America.  Dezcallar said his meetings with USG officials in 
New York on the margins of the UNGA had given him a sense 
that the USG had fewer concerns regarding Spanish policy 
towards Venezuela than was the case several months ago.  He 
expressed his conviction that the summit among the leaders of 
Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, and Spain and Spain's 
organization of an exchange between Venezuelan and Colombian 
judges had had a calming influence in the region.  Dezcallar 
said it was important that Chavez understand that others in 
the region would hold him to democratic standards. 
 
//CUBA// 
 
9. (C) U/S Dobriansky requested Dezcallar's assessment of 
whether the shift in Spanish/EU policy towards Cuba had 
achieved any progress, noting the USG's view that conditions 
had not improved.  Dezcallar said that Spain did not expect 
any significant changes in Cuba until Castro was gone from 
the scene.  In his view, the best that could be achieved were 
limited victories, such as the release of individual 
political prisoners and a very limited political opening. 
Dezcallar cited the civil society meeting organized by 
dissident Martha Beatriz Roque in May as an "unprecedented" 
event and implied that Spain had pressured the Cuban 
government to tolerate the gathering.  He was pessimistic 
regarding the possibility of a substantial political opening, 
but said it would be critical to have a presence in Havana 
when change finally did come.  Dezcallar said the Cuban 
government's freeze on contacts with EU diplomats had not 
advanced European objectives in Cuba and therefore Spain had 
worked to reestablish official relations. 
 
10. (C) Dezcallar said the USG-Spain discussions on Latin 
America on the margins of the UNGA had been fruitful and he 
hoped that they would result in direct contact between USG 
and Spanish officials who are planning ahead for the Cuban 
transition.  He repeated his view that there was little 
chance of advancing democracy objectives in Cuba as long as 
Castro remained in power.  U/S Dobriansky said she understood 
Spain's frustration; the USG had engaged in a regular 
dialogue on human rights with the Chinese government for 
several years, but froze that dialogue once we realized we 
were making no headway in resolving the underlying human 
rights problems in China. 
 
//RED CROSS-MAGEN DAVID ADOM// 
 
11. (U) On the issue of Magen David Adom (MDA), U/S 
Dobriansky said that Switzerland had committed to hold a 
conference before the end of 2005.  The USG hoped to see a 
specific date set soon.  There has been movement in the 
Organization of the Islamic Conference on MDA and a meeting 
soon would generate further positive momentum.  Dezcallar 
said that Spain, like the USG, sees this as a humanitarian 
issue.  He observed that there are differences of opinion 
within the Palestinian leadership, with Palestinian Authority 
leader Abbas accepting MDA, but Foreign Minister Al-Kidwa 
more problematic.  Dezcallar highlighted Spain's recent 
measures designed to improve relations with Israel, including 
it's first-ever commemoration of a Holocaust remembrance day 
in January 2005 and plans well underway for the establishment 
of a "Casa Sefarad" (Hebrew House) in Madrid to celebrate 
Spain's Jewish heritage. 
 
//AVIAN FLU// 
 
12. (U) U/S Dobriansky discussed the USG's deep concern 
regarding the threat of a global pandemic related to avian 
influenza and our hope that Spain would join the 
International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza 
(IPAPI).  She explained that the USG's core principle in this 
endeavor was transparency, with coordination among all the 
key players, including the World Health Organization (WHO). 
She urged Spain to send a delegation to the Senior Officials 
Meeting October 6-7 in Washington, which is intended to help 
ensure that all appropriate measures are in place to monitor 
and respond avian flu.  Dobriansky noted that she had 
discussed this issue with MFA Director General for 
International Organizations and Multilateral Affairs Arturo 
Laclaustra earlier in the day (septel).  She said the USG 
understood that Spain was waiting for a coordinated EU 
position to emerge from the September 30 COREPER meeting in 
Brussels, but hoped Spain would participate in IPAPI 
regardless of the results of the September 30 meeting. 
Dezcallar assured U/S Dobriansky that Spain would be helpful 
on this issue. 
 
//CLIMATE CHANGE// 
 
13. (U) Dezcallar said Spain's Ministry of the Environment 
had asked him to raise the Kyoto Protocol with U/S Dobriansky 
and to inquire whether there had been any shift in the USG 
position.  U/S Dobriansky said that USG policy is not to go 
forward on the Kyoto Protocol, but to implement a policy 
aimed at slowing the emission of greenhouse gases while 
maintaining productivity.  The USG also continues to work 
with other countries on renewable energy projects.  Dezcallar 
said that a meeting of the minds between the EU and the U.S. 
on climate change was important, but that recent events had 
made it even more urgent, including Russia's entry into the 
Kyoto Protocol, the recent hurricanes in the U.S., and 
rapidly spreading desertification in Spain.  U/S Dobriansky 
noted that we shared the same goals as the EU, but had 
different views as to how we should achieve those objectives. 
 The U.S. view was that we should focus on what can be done 
now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop the 
technology that will allow  us to limit future emissions 
without sacrificing growth.  U/S Dobriansky also indicated 
USG skepticism regarding the utility of shifting greenhouse 
gas emissions from one region to another (e.g. trading 
emissions) if the overall objective was to reduce the global 
production of such gases.  She said it was also important to 
gather as much information as possible to track climate 
change, which is why the USG had supported the creation of 
the Group on Earth Observations to monitor the phenomenon. 
 
14. (U) U/S Dobriansky cleared this report. 
AGUIRRE