SPAIN: ZAPATERO RESHUFFLES DOMESTIC POLICY CABINET

UNCLAS MADRID 001342 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV SP SUBJECT: SPAIN: ZAPATERO RESHUFFLES DOMESTIC POLICY CABINET POSTS ¶1. (U) SUMMARY. With an eye on issues that will be important to voters in upcoming national elections, President Zapatero announced on July 6 four changes to his cabinet. Parliamentary Vice President Carme Chacon will become the new Housing Minister. Elena Salgado, until now Minister of Health, will become the Minister of Public Administration. Zapatero also named Cesar Antonio Molina, current director of the Cervantes Institute, as the new Minister of Culture (replacing Carmen Calvo),and Bernat Soria, a renowned scientist and expert on stem cell research, as his new Minister of Health. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) Although the changes do not affect vital Ministries, they likely were made with an eye toward elections next year. Zapatero focused on strengthening Ministries that deal with social and cultural values -- two main issues for his political base. Carme Chacon has become the "face" of the Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSC) in Madrid after Jose Montilla's departure as Minister of Industry to preside the over the Catalonian government. Chacon's popularity in Catalonia is expected to be an asset for the governing Socialist Party (PSOE) in the 2008 elections. Jordi Sevilla, the departing Minister of Public Administration, will very likely return to his home province of Valencia in order to reinvigorate the PSOE there. Valencia is currently an opposition Popular Party (PP) stronghold. The PSOE's most recent candidate in Valencia was not successful in regional elections, and Sevilla's strong image in the region as a "pure blooded" politician should strengthen the party's prospects there. The appointment of respected scientist Bernat Soria, who is known for his work on stem cell research, also provides the Zapatero government a high profile on an issue he calculates is a net electoral asset for the PSOE. ¶3. (U) This is the fourth time Zapatero has shuffled his cabinet. Past changes have been more substantial, including the April 2006 departure of Defense Minister Jose Bono. Also in that move, Jose Antonio Alonso went to Defense, Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba took over Interior, and Mercedes Cabrera became head of Education. -- BIO NOTES -- ¶4. (U) Carme Chacon. The Housing Minister, born in Barcelona in 1971, holds a doctorate in law, was a law professor, and is considered an expert in federalism. She was an OSCE election observer in Bosnia in 1996 and Albania in 1997. Chacon was elected to the Congress in 2000, and was elected First Vice President of the Congress in 2004. She is close to the leadership of the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC). She is married to Miguel Barroso, a Zapatero confidant and former Secretary of Communications who currently directs Casa de SIPDIS America. ¶5. (U) Elena Salgado. Salgado was made Minister of Public Administration as a reward for her strong management of the Health Ministry. As Health Minister, she was known for her crusades against smoking, unhealthy fast food, and alcohol abuse. She maintains good relations with key ministers including Vice Presidents Fernandez de la Vega and Solbes, Interior Minister Rubalcaba, and Defense Minister Alonso. She was Spain's unsuccessful candidate for the World Health Organization in 2006. Outside government, much of her professional life has been in the telecommunications sector and she is a former board member of Telefonica, Hispasat, Retevision, and Correos. Salgado, born in 1949, has degrees in industrial engineering and economics. ¶6. (U) Bernat Soria. One of the world's leading experts on stem cells, the new Health Minister, born in 1951, was previously the coordinator for the European Embryonic Stem Cell Network, professor of physiology at Pablo de Olvide University in Alicante, and director of the Andalucian Center of Molecular Biology and Regenerative Medicine in Sevilla. During the period of 2001-2005, Soria conducted his research in Singapore after the Ministry of Health opened a case against him for conducting research on stem cells acquired in the U.S. Dr. Soria has an MD from the University of Valencia. ¶7. (U) Cesar Antonio Molina. The Culture Minister was previously a professor of literature at Madrid's Complutense University and of journalism at Carlos III University. Molina, born in 1952, was director of the Circulo de Bellas Artes cultural center from 1996-2004, and since then has been director of the Cervantes Institute, which promotes Spanish language and literature around the world. He is a writer who has published some 30 books and frequently contributes newspaper columns. AGUIRRE