Spain and the United States - Real Instituto Elcano

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SPAIN AND THE UNITED STATES
happened in Spain after the end of the regime of General Franco (1939-75) and
what might occur after Castro.
Spain is the largest foreign investor in Cuba and has close cultural and
family ties: the island was Spain’s last colony (1898), and it is estimated that
70% of Cubans have a Spanish grandparent (alive or dead). 1 More than
150,000 Spanish tourists visit Cuba every year. The two poles of Cuban exiles
in the world are Madrid, where some 60,000 Cubans live, and Miami (more
than one million). The exiles in Madrid are less actively anti-Castro than the
ones in Miami for various reasons, including the higher degree of sympathy
that exists in Spain towards the Cuban regime among certain segments of the
population, especially people to the left of the Socialists for whom Cuba is an
emotive issue.
Spain’s policy towards Cuba irritates Washington. The Bush
administration regards Madrid’s belief that it can influence events in Cuba
as naïve – very little has changed in the human rights situation and few
political prisoners have been released. The Socialists, on the other hand, point
to the failure of the more than 40-year US blockade of Cuba to achieve very
much other than to harden the Castro regime. Eduardo Aguirre, the US
ambassador to Spain who took up his post in June 2005, is a Cuban-American;
Madrid’s relations with Cuba are high on his agenda. Both Aguirre and his
wife emigrated to the United States in the early 1960s as unaccompanied
minors under the “Peter Pan” programme, which brought 14,039 children to
the country.
The dialogue between Spain and the United States over Venezuela – where
several Spanish companies have significant investments, particularly the oil
and gas conglomerate Repsol YPF, which has a joint venture with Petróleos de
Venezuela (PDVSA) – is also one of the deaf, and it is becoming more
seriously so. Donald Rumsfeld, the Secretary of Defence, harshly criticised
Spain’s sale of patrol boats and transport planes to the avowedly anti-American
government of President Hugo Chávez, who claims to be building “21 st century
socialism”. Again, Spain’s Socialists want to keep their options open and not
close the door, while Washington views Chávez as a dangerous demagogue in
a volatile region with ties to Cuba that are too close for comfort. Spain’s
position towards Cuba and, particularly, towards Venezuela – Spain is not
alone among European countries in taking a different line towards Havana to
that of Washington but it is, to a greater extent, with respect to Venezuela –
exemplifies the Socialists’ desire for a more autonomous foreign policy.
According to Elcano’s June 2005 barometer, 60% of respondents backed the
1. See the three articles on Cuba by Juan Jesús Aznárez in El País (May 23, 24 and 25, 2005).