Spain and the United States - Real Instituto Elcano

CHAPTER 7
LOOKING AHEAD
Spain and the United States have several elements that make their relationship
a special one, particularly the US bases in Spain, the very large Spanish
investments in Latin America – America’s backyard – and the growing
importance of the Hispanic community in the United States, the country’s
largest ethnic minority. The two countries also suffered the worst terrorist
attacks of the 21 st century. None of these factors on their own make Spain a
particularly important country for the United States, but together they do give
Spain, the world’s eighth-largest economy (now ahead of Canada, which,
unlike Spain, is a G8 member), an added significance.
After a stormy period in the relations between the two governments as a
result of the abrupt withdrawal of Spain’s troops from Iraq, Madrid and
Washington have established a modus vivendi, although the pull-out of Spanish
troops from Iraq remains a festering wound in the White House. The Socialists
have toned down their rhetoric over Iraq, are cooperating very closely on
international terrorism and have significantly increased their cooperation in
Afghanistan, where 17 Spanish soldiers were killed in a helicopter accident,
with the presence of more than 1,000 peacekeeping troops. However, there are
serious differences over Cuba and, particularly, Venezuela.
The Socialists, unlike the previous centre-right government of the Popular
Party (PP), whose foreign policy was much more in tune with George W.
Bush’s, and the US administration are pursuing diametrically opposed policies
in both these countries. The Socialists overturned the PP’s isolation of the
Cuban regime and spearheaded the EU’s efforts to restore normal diplomatic
relations as of January 2005, a decision ratified in June. The Socialists
concluded that the previous policy was getting nowhere and, furthermore, was
preventing Spain, in particular, and the EU, in general, from positioning itself
in order to exercise influence after the death of Fidel Castro (78) in a possible
transition to democracy. Tenuous parallels can be drawn between what