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DE RUEHMD #0614/01 1771456
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P 261456Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0838
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA PRIORITY 4038
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RUEHNA/DEA HQS WASHDC PRIORITY
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RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCNFB/FBI WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEILB/NCTC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFHTA/TSA HQ WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
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RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 MADRID 000614 

NOFORN 
SIPDIS 

FOR EUR/WE, EUR/ERA, INR 
PASS TO MARC FREY, DAVE GORDNER, KIKO CORTI, MIKE 
SCARDAVILLE OF DHS 

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/25/2024 
TAGS: PREL PINS PTER PINR KHLS KCIP KCRM SP PGOV
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR DHS. SEC. NAPOLITANO'S JULY 1 
MEETINGS IN MADRID 


MADRID 00000614 001.2 OF 004 


Classified By: Charge D'Affaires Arnold A. Chacon for reasons 1.4 (b) a 
nd (d) 

¶1. (C//NF) Madam Secretary, Embassy Madrid warmly welcomes 
your visit, which comes on the heels of your June 24 meeting 
with Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba in 
Washington (Ref A). While one of the highlights of his trip 
was signing the bilateral accord on Preventing and Combating 
Serious Crime, one of the centerpieces of your Madrid trip 
will be to sign an MOU to formalize the DHS Immigration 
Advisory Program (IAP) at Madrid's Barajas Airport and a 
declaration of intent for our two governments to work toward 
concluding an agreement on Cooperation in Science & 
Technology for Homeland Security Matters. You will hold 
meetings with President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, his 
Second Vice President, Elena Salgado, who also serves as 
Minister of Economy and Finance, and Interior Minister 
Rubalcaba. The Embassy also will co-host a reception in your 
honor, which will give you and your delegation an opportunity 
to meet a range of additional senior-level officials in the 
Spanish Government. Your visit will help to highlight the 
importance that the USG places on the overall bilateral 
relationship and the numerous programs that the DHS is 
working on with our Spanish hosts. While the focus of your 
trip will be on discussing bilateral issues, your 
interlocutors may express GOS interest in preliminary 
discussions to increase collaboration on justice and home 
affairs issues during Spain's upcoming stint as President of 
the European Union (EU) during the first half of 2010. 

//US-SPAIN RELATIONS// 

¶2. (C//NF) U.S.-Spain relations are strong and based on 
shared global interests. Spain is a valued US partner and an 
important geostrategic player that has achieved a remarkable 
transformation since the end of the Franco dictatorship 30 
years ago. It is one of the leading democracies in Europe, 
and has the ninth-largest economy in the world. Spain is an 
important friend and ally, and we value its cooperation 
against terrorism and a range of other security issues. 
Since the U.S. presidential election in November, a strong 
atmosphere of goodwill has emerged in Spain for closer 
bilateral cooperation. As a gesture of this goodwill, the 
GOS presently is considering accepting some of the detainees 
currently held at Guantanamo (GTMO, see Ref B). In 
Washington, Rubalcaba publicly stated that Spain may accept 
as many as five detainees. Spain is an important NATO ally, 
a key player in the EU, and during January-June 2010 will 
hold the EU's rotating Presidency. XXXXXXXXXXXX, judicial, and information-sharing 
efforts, at least with us. The USG and GOS signed the 
Homeland Security Presidential Directive 6 (HSPD-6) 
information-sharing agreement in 2007. XXXXXXXXXXXX. The DHS/ICE office within Embassy Madrid has 
worked with GOS counterparts over the past year on successful 
running of the IAP and in operations targeting bulk-cash 
smuggling at Barajas Airport. Spain also is a founding 
member of the Proliferation Security Initiative and an active 
member in the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. 
As per Ref C, Spain currently is being considered for 

MADRID 00000614 002.2 OF 004 


membership in the G-8 Partnership Against the Spread of 
Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction. Spain also allows 
us the use of two military bases that are critical transit 
points between the U.S. and Iraq and Afghanistan. One recent 
irritant in bilateral relationship is are the efforts by some 
investigating judges - invoking "universal jurisdiction" - to 
indict former USG officials for their allegedly involvement 
in torture at GTMO (Ref D). 

¶3. (SBU) Your visit to Madrid and Rubalcaba's visit to 
Washington are but the latest in a series of high-level 
exchanges, including a presidential bilateral on the margins 
of the U.S.-EU Summit in Prague in April, a meeting between 
National Security Adviser Gen. Jones and King Juan Carlos I 
in Florida in February, and Foreign Minister Moratinos's 
February meeting in Washington with Secretary Clinton. At 
the end of May, U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood became 
the first cabinet-level visitor to Spain on behalf of the 
Obama Administration. While you are in Madrid, Defense 
Minister Carme Chacon will be in Washington during June 30 - 
July 2 for discussions with Secretary Gates, among other 
meetings (Ref E). 

//THE POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT// 

¶4. (SBU) In office since 2004, Zapatero won reelection to a 
second term in March 2008, but his center-left Spanish 
Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) is seven seats shy of a 
majority in the 350-seat Congress. XXXXXXXXXXXX. Unemployment is over 17%, the 
highest rate in the EU, and it is expected to reach 20% 
sometime in the next year. Although popularity ratings for 
Zapatero and the Socialists are low, the conservative 
opposition Popular Party (PP) has struggled to capitalize on 
this. The PP, hampered by internal divisions, also has been 
dogged by corruption accusations. Nevertheless, Zapatero 
suffered his first serious political reverse since winning 
reelection when his party lost power in March 2009 regional 
elections in Galicia. Zapatero shuffled the cabinet April 7 
as a response to criticism of the GOS' inability to resolve 
the economic crisis and with an eye to the June European 
Parliament elections. The most prominent change was the 
replacement of the Second Vice President/Minister of Economy 
and Finance. Even so, the PP secured more seats than the 
Socialists in the June 7 European Parliament elections, 
another sign that Zapatero needs to focus on the economic 
situation. 

//YOUR MEETINGS// 

¶5. (S//NF) XXXXXXXXXXXX. He may even take credit, as in the case of 
adjustments in U.S.-Cuba policy, for shaping USG views. He 
is not innately ill-disposed to the USG. For him, foreign 
policy is subordinate to domestic political interests, and 
the U.S. relationship is just one more element to be viewed 
XXXXXXXXXXXX.

MADRID 00000614 003.2 OF 004 


currently a wave of goodwill for President Obama in Spain, 
which is the answer to Zapatero's prayers in that it enables 
him to engage the USG without being dinged by the traditional 
anti-U.S. sentiment among his socialist base. XXXXXXXXXXXX. Zapatero 
does not speak English, though we think he may understand it. 

¶6. (C/NF) You will recall Interior Minister Rubalcaba - who 
has wide-ranging responsibilities on security, law 
enforcement and intelligence issues - as very capable and 
serious but also charming. XXXXXXXXXXXX. He is known for his 
intelligence, discretion, hard work, and mastery of detail, 
as well as his negotiating prowess. XXXXXXXXXXXX. 
You and Minister Rubalcaba are scheduled to sign 
an MOU formalizing ongoing cooperation on the DHS's 
Immigration Advisory Program (IAP) at Madrid's Barajas 
Airport, where a successful pilot program recently was 
carried out. You are also scheduled to sign a declaration of 
intent for our two governments to work toward concluding an 
agreement on Cooperation in Science & Technology for Homeland 
Security Matters. Rubalcaba also is likely to continue his 
Washington discussions with you on the US-EU transatlantic 
agenda, border control issues, CSI, document falsification, 
money laundering, and an alert system in case of the theft of 
arms or explosives for terrorist purposes. He may discuss 
further his recent proposal for an exchange of liaison 
personnel to have officials present in each others' 
headquarters. In addition to the preceding topics, you may 
also wish to raise trafficking in persons, illegal 
immigration, Frontex issues, and Special Interest Alien 
Smuggling through Madrid-Barajas Airport en route to the 
United States. Rubalcaba speaks English but prefers to have 
an interpreter present during discussions of some technical 
aspects of his portfolio. 

¶7. (C) XXXXXXXXXX. Elena 
Salgado is the Second Vice President and Minister of Economy 
and Finance. She was moved up from being Minister of Public 
Administration in April, as part of the broader cabinet 
shuffle intended to highlight an intensified GOS effort to 
combat the impact of the global economic crisis on Spain. 
Rubalcaba reportedly was an influential figure in supporting 
her appointment. XXXXXXXXXX. She previously served as Minister 
of Public Administration (2007-09) and Minister of Health 
(2004-07). The Spanish Government in 2006 unsuccessfully 
nominated Salgado as a candidate for the Presidency of the 
World Health Organization. Salgado also has extensive 
private sector experience in consulting and 
telecommunications industries. Salgado, born in 1949, has 
degrees in industrial engineering and economics. Salgado 
would be an appropriate GOS official with whom to discuss 
CSI, money laundering and bulk-cash smuggling, and the USG's 

MADRID 00000614 004.2 OF 004 


relationship with Spanish Customs. Salgado speaks English. 
CHACON