SPAIN: SCENESETTER FOR INL PDAS SCHWEICH'S OCTOBER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 002543 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR INL/FO SCHWEICH; INL/PC PFORZHEIMER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL SNAR SP SUBJECT: SPAIN: SCENESETTER FOR INL PDAS SCHWEICH'S OCTOBER 16-17 VISIT MADRID 00002543 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) Your visit will dovetail nicely with the visit in mid September of DEA Administrator Tandy and will provide an important opportunity to educate the Spaniards on the Department's key role in the counter-narcotics effort. In her meetings with members of the Spanish Ministry of Interior, Civil Guard, Customs, and SEPBLAC (Spain's anti-money laundering agency),Administrator Tandy highlighted the importance of attacking the financial infrastructure of drug trafficking organizations operating on the Iberian Peninsula. You are scheduled to meet with your counterparts in these same organizations and you will have an opportunity to reinforce the points Administrator Tandy made. Your visit can also serve to energize the Spanish counter-narcotics effort as it prepares to host the 25th-annual International Drug Enforcement Conference (IDEC) in Spring 2007. This will be the first time that the IDEC has been held outside the western hemisphere and Spain is eager to put its best face on the gathering of high-level drug and law enforcement officials from throughout the world. You may wish to pulse the Spanish for the current status of conference preparations and draft agenda. The Spanish government knows it faces serious challenges on the narcotics front and it ranks drug trafficking as one of its most important law enforcement concerns. The Spanish continue to maintain excellent relations with US law enforcement, but more can be done, and your meetings can be a forum to discuss additional avenues of multi-agency cooperation between our two governments. ¶2. (SBU) Spain has become the principal entry and transshipment zone for the large quantities of South American cocaine and Moroccan cannabis destined for European Union consumer markets, and is also a major transit location for drug proceeds destined for South and Central America. The Iberian Peninsula's strategic location along the Atlantic Ocean, combined with the ease of communication with the Spanish and Portuguese languages, has enabled South American drug trafficking organizations to establish themselves with relative ease. You could encourage the Spanish to lean on key Latin American countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Colombia, whose territories are playing an �00A;increasing role in the transiting of drugs to Spain, to further enlist their efforts in the counter-narcotics fight. Your Spanish interlocutors may ask for your views on issues of law enforcement and intelligence related to these countries. Moving away from Latin America, Spanish officials have a key interest in the current narcotics situation in Afghanistan as its military leads a Provincial Reconstruction Team in the western part of the country. Spanish press often focuses on the 'worsening' situation of opium cultivation in Afghanistan (the DEA Administrator was pressed on this during her interview with left-leaning El Pais),and you may wish to provide our views on the Afghan counter-drug strategy and a readout of the recently released report on opium cultivation and production in that country. ¶3. (SBU) Spain also has a large domestic drug problem and continues to be the largest consumer of cocaine in the European Union. The Ministry of Health released a report earlier this month claiming that almost 30,000 Spaniards between the ages of 14 and 18 consume cannabis on a daily basis while 6,000 youth in the same age group use cocaine every day. The Spanish government has recently launched a new anti-drug publicity campaign and you might inquire about its desired impact when you discuss demand reduction with senior officials of Spain's National Drug Plan (PND). The PND was approved in 1999 to cover the years 2000-2008 and expanded the scope of law enforcement activities and targeted money laundering and illicit commerce in chemical precursors. In March of last year, the Spanish government modified the PND to focus on reduced drug consumption, and Spain continues to work on ways to reduce demand. ¶4. (SBU) The lack of financial investigative experience by Spanish law enforcement officials and antiquated or under-utilized financial laws have combined to create a friendly work environment for drug trafficking and drug money laundering organizations. In an effort to increase the interdiction and seizure of illicit drugs and proceeds, the DEA Madrid Country Office has coordinated DEA training opportunities for their Spanish counterparts. Our Spanish MADRID 00002543 002.2 OF 002 law enforcement and judicial counterparts have attended training seminars on money laundering, undercover money pickups, and illicit financial investigations, and plans are in the works for training on undercover operations. It is likely that your interlocutors will broach the subject of funding for future training opportunities and would welcome your thoughts on how they might increase their counter-narcotics operations. You will have the opportunity to meet with the Ambassador, DCM, and Country Team members before you engage with your Spanish counterparts to gain a better understanding of the current state of joint operational activities. ¶5. (SBU) Your visit also occurs during a very active agenda of bilateral cooperation across the foreign policy spectrum. Our respective governments are trying to look past the damage done to bilateral relations stemming from the Spanish government's decision to abruptly pull its troops from Iraq in April 2004 to focus on areas of mutual interest in which we can cooperate. Over the past two years, the Zapatero government has made repeated efforts to improve trans-Atlantic relations, most notably with a force contribution in Afghanistan and the leadership of a Provincial Reconstruction Team. Spain has shouldered a significant load in Afghanistan and the government's support of the mission there is strong, despite constant criticism from the opposition party and the rampant unpopularity the mission holds among the Spanish populace. ¶6. (SBU) We have also been pleased with Spanish efforts to support several other important issues in our global agenda. Despite pulling its troops from Iraq, Spain still contributes to our mission there by training Iraqi deminers and pledging financial support for humanitarian projects--such as the $22 million recently pledged to finish construction on a children's hospital in the town of Basra. The Zapatero government continues to allow blanket overflight and landing clearances, even for Iraq operations, at strategically-located bases in southern Spain that the US shares with the Spanish navy and air force. Spain is participating in the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, again despite persistent criticism from the opposition, with a military commitment that will total 1,200 troops. ¶7. (SBU) Though bilateral relations are now on an even keel, differences remain, such as how to manage the transition to democracy in Cuba, high-level contacts with the Syrian government and the sale of defense equipment to Venezuela. The Zapatero government pledged to sell aircraft and patrol boats to Venezuela, but the planes deal died after the US refused the transfer of US technology involved and the GOS will not seek to revive it. President Zapatero remains viscerally opposed to the Iraq operation and continues to refer publicly to what he calls an "illegal" war, though he has reduced the frequency of such incidents. ¶8. (SBU) The US and Spain also coordinate closely on counter-terrorism and judicial issues. We regularly discuss political events in Latin America, most notably in Cuba, Bolivia, and Venezuela. During their June meeting, Secretary Rice and Foreign Minister Moratinos agreed that Africa might represent another area in which both countries could cooperate productively, and the Spanish government launched their Plan Africa shortly thereafter, a significant program of targeted assistance to West Africa, Mauritania and Morocco. Your visit will add to the important list of high-level US officials who this fall have either visited Spain or plan to come, including Cuba Transition Coordinator McCarry, Special Coordinator for Venezuela McCarthy, Attorney General Gonzalez, and Deputy Treasury Secretary Kimmitt. The Secretary told FM Moratinos after their meeting that she also SIPDIS plans to visit Spain this fall. AGUIRRE