US embassy cable - 05MADRID3677

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MADRID 003677 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/20/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, SP, CU, VE 
SUBJECT: IBERO-AMERICAN SUMMIT OVERSHADOWED BY CUBAN ISSUES 
CONTROVERSY 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Eduardo Aguirre for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d). 
 
1. (U) SUMMARY:  Though the final declaration of the Ibero- 
American summit in Salamanca, Spain covered a wide range 
of issues including immigration, disaster relief, and debt 
issues, two Cuba-related issues dominated the Spanish 
press's front-page coverage of the event:  Posada Carriles 
and Helms-Burton.  The Spanish press also reported 
Ambassador Aguirre's intervention with Spanish Foreign 
Minister Moratinos to register our concerns and urge 
changes in the language.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (U) Seventeen Latin American leaders and their foreign 
ministers came to Salamanca, Spain on October 14-15 
for the 15th Ibero-American summit, which includes Spain, 
Portugal, Andorra, and 22 Latin American countries that 
trace part of their heritage to the Iberian Peninsula. 
Fidel Castro did not come, but Venezuela's Hugo Chavez 
was in attendance.  Other European and international 
participants included UN SYG Kofi Annan, European 
Commission President Manuel Barroso, EU "Foreign 
Minister" Javier Solana, European Parliament President 
Jose Borrell, OAS SYG Jose Miguel Insulza, and Haitian 
PM Gerard Latortue. 
 
DECLARATION'S MAJOR POINTS 
 
3. (U) Aside from the Cuba-related issues, the declaration 
addressed points including: 
 
POLITICAL 
 
- Concern over the "institutional crisis" in Nicaragua. 
 
- Support for Haiti's transition process. 
 
- Support for strengthening democracy in Bolivia. 
 
- Recognition of Colombia's peace efforts, including the 
disarmament of illegal armed groups, and a demand for more 
international support for those efforts. 
 
- Demand for UK and Argentina to resolve Falkland Island 
claims under UN and OAS guidance. 
 
ECONOMIC 
 
- Desire to exchange external debt for investment in 
education. 
 
- Expression of support for free-trade negotiations between 
EU, Central America, and the Andean Community. 
 
SOCIAL 
 
- Solidarity with the victims of Hurricane Stan, and a call 
for increased international aid for the victims. 
 
- Desire for more humane treatment of migrant populations, 
and the provision for a future Meeting on Latin American 
Migration. 
 
- Work toward Millennium Development Goals, and support 
cooperation between Latin American states against drug 
trafficking. 
 
 
CUBA ISSUES 
 
4. (C) Posada Carriles:  Paragraph five of the 
declaration's "Special Communique of Support for 
the Fight Against Terrorism" raises the 
Posada Carriles issue by calling for the "extradition 
or bringing to justice" of those responsible for the 
"terrorist attack" on a Cuban airliner in October 
1976.  It does not mention Luis Posada Carriles by name but 
the reference is perfectly clear.  Apparently, the original 
text called only for the "extradition" of Carriles. 
Ambassador Aguirre intervened with Spanish Foreign 
Minister Moratinos to express our concerns, and also 
let them be known in the Spanish press. Moratinos 
agreed to add "or bring to justice" in the final text. 
He later told the Ambassador that his Latin American 
counterparts resisted the change, but the language 
was altered in the final text. 
 
5. (C) Helms-Burton/Cuba Sanctions: A separate section 
of the declaration addresses Cuba sanctions, calling 
for an end to the "economic, commercial, and financial 
blockade" against Cuba.  We understand that the first 
draft of the text referred only to a "blockade." 
Ambassador Aguirre raised concern with Moratinos about 
this term, and again shared this concern with the 
Spanish press.  Moratinos and his MFA team argued 
that UN declarations have used the term "blockade" 
and also argued that in Spanish the term "bloqueo" can 
be interchanged with the word "embargo."  The Ambassador, 
who is a native Spanish speaker, argued the contrary. 
In the final version, the term "blockade" remained 
but the Spanish MFA claimed that the addition of the 
words "economic, commercial and financial" 
distinguished the term from a military blockade, which 
is the traditional diplomatic usage of this term. 
Deputy FM Bernadino Leon also told the Ambassador that 
the MFA views as a success its action to move the 
Helms-Burton language from the main part of the 
declaration into a secondary statement. 
 
SPANISH EXPLANATIONS 
 
6. (C) First Vice President Fernandez de la Vega, who 
organized the summit, told the Ambassador on October 
17 that Cuban issues had not been part of the summit 
discussions until the very last phase, presumably after 
Cuban FM Perez Roque's arrival in Madrid.  We heard 
from other diplomats involved that Foreign Ministers 
were personally negotiating the declaration text until 
the very last minute and were not including their 
respective staffs in the deliberation.  Spanish Deputy 
Foreign Minister Bernardino Leon was Spain's chief 
negotiator.  He and Moratinos told the Ambassador 
that when they proposed changes to the text after the 
Ambassador's intervention with them, they received no 
support from other Latin American leaders. 
 
7. (C) In response to Spain's concern that the US had made 
its views known in the press, the Ambassador noted that 
we had responded to press queries following the Foreign 
Ministers' press conference in which the Cuba issues 
were raised.  He said he welcomed the opportunity to 
continue close dialogue with Spain on these and other 
issues, but would not hesitate to defend US interests. 
He told Moratinos that this was his motivation for 
letting the press know that US-Spain relations 
remained productive and based on dialogue. 
 
SPANISH GOVERNMENT TAKES A HIT IN THE PRESS 
 
8. (U) Most Spanish press criticized President 
Zapatero and his government for allowing Cuban issues 
to overshadow the summit, and took issue with the term 
"blockade."  The Cuba issues, including US concerns, 
dominated press coverage in Madrid during the Summit. 
Many papers, editorials, including the usually pro- 
government El Pais, criticized the GOS for allowing 
Cuban issues to dominate.  The Ambassador's discussions 
with Moratinos about the wording of the declaration 
were on the front pages of the major dailies on 
October 15.  Zapatero refused to discuss what he 
called the false controversy of the Cuba declarations, 
and defined the US-Spain relationship as "appropriate, 
correct, and fluid." 
 
HUGO CHAVEZ IN SALAMANCA 
 
9. (U) Hugo Chavez thanked the Ibero-American leaders 
for supporting Posada Carriles' extradition to Venezuela. 
He said that he had no problem with last-minute changes 
to the declaration, but that it would be better for 
Carriles to be tried in Venezuela, "because if he is 
tried in the US, he could be sentenced to death." 
He told the press that the negotiations for the purchase 
of military equipment from Spain were "moving forward." 
Chavez emphasized that Venezuela would use the planes 
to transport medicines and rescue personnel and the 
boats to take care of its coastal waters.  President 
Zapatero said on October 15 that he had not 
talked to Chavez about the sale during their bilateral 
meeting, and that the negotiations would be left to 
the companies involved.  Chavez also stated that 
Venezuela intended to reach a long-term agreement 
for the provision of oil to Spain. 
 
OTHER LEADERS, REACTIONS 
 
10. (U) Cuban FM Perez Roque said that the Summit's 
declarations regarding Cuba were an important diplomatic 
and political victory for his country.  EU Commission 
President Barroso pointed out that the parts of the 
declaration related to Cuba should not be taken as 
a sign of tolerance towards Castro's regime, especially 
regarding human rights violations.  He also said that 
one cannot compare the US with Cuba, because the US 
is a democracy whereas Cuba is a dictatorship. 
Enrique Iglesias, the new Ibero-American Summit 
Secretary General, said that the special terrorism 
 
SIPDIS 
declaration applies not only to Posada Carriles but also 
to other countries that have open terrorist 
extradition cases. 
AGUIRRE