SCENESETTER FOR JUNE 23-25 WASHINGTON VISIT BY SPAIN'S INTERIOR MINISTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MADRID 000551

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SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR JUNE 23-25 WASHINGTON VISIT BY SPAIN'S INTERIOR MINISTER

REF: A. MADRID 351

B. SECSTATE 56239

C. MADRID 440

D. MADRID 261

E. MADRID 484

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


1. (C//NF) SUMMARY: Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez
Rubalcaba will meet senior officials from the DHS, DOJ, FBI,
CIA, ODNI, NCTC, and possibly the NSC, during his June 23-25
visit to Washington, DC. USG interlocutors will find that
Rubalcaba - who has wide-ranging responsibilities on
security, law enforcement and intelligence issues - is very
capable and serious but also charming. A career politician,
Rubalcaba is arguably the most impressive member of Spanish
President Zapatero's cabinet and a very useful and powerful
ally to have in the Zapatero Administration. His influence
exceeds the formal parameters of his Ministry. Embassy
Madrid judges the bilateral law enforcement relationship to
be excellent, while the bilateral CT relationship is good but
could be better. Rubalcaba is interested in signing either
several bilateral accords or (if the accords cannot be ironed
out in time) political declarations of intent to do so in the
near future. The Minister has an extensive agenda -
including counter-terrorism (CT),law enforcement, and
intelligence issues - he wishes to discuss with US officials.
While the focus of this trip will be on discussing bilateral
issues, Rubalcaba also will address GOS interest in increased
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. END SUMMARY.

//US-SPAIN RELATIONS//


2. (C//NF) U.S.-Spain relations are strong and based on
shared global interests. Spain is an important friend and
ally and we value its cooperation against terrorism and a
range of other security issues. Since the US 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 A). XXXXXXXXXXXX. Spain also allows us the use of two military bases that are critical transit points between the U.S. and Iraq and Afghanistan. Recent irritants in bilateral
relations, however, are the efforts by the Spanish judiciary
- invoking "universal jurisdiction" - to indict former USG
officials for their allegedly involvement in torture at GTMO.
(See Ref C).

//RUBALCABA AND HIS MINISTRY//


3. (C//NF) A member of parliament since 1996, Rubalcaba is a
three-time Minister who in mid-2008 also served a brief stint
as acting Defense Minister. He is known for his
intelligence, discretion, hard work, and mastery of detail,
as well as his negotiating prowess. Rubalcaba was the
Socialist party's longtime pointman on CT issues before
Zapatero named him Interior Minister in early 2006. He is
one of two or three individuals whom Zapatero often consults
before making big decisions, and not only on issues within
Rubalcaba's portfolio. A senior official within the

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Socialist party with a reputation for getting things done,
Rubalcaba excels at putting out fires and is a valued contact
of the Embassy, which finds him accessible and effective in
getting things done for us despite his busy portfolio. This
will be Rubalcaba's first meeting with most of his USG
interlocutors, although he first met DHS Secretary Napolitano
in Berlin for the G6 1 meeting on March 15. The Minister
speaks English but prefers to have an interpreter present for
some of the more technical aspects of his official meetings.


4. (C//NF) The Ministry of Interior (MOI) oversees the
Spanish National Police (SNP) and the paramilitary Civil
Guard (GC). The MOI is a key cabinet post, as Spain
confronts both the domestic terrorist group Basque Fatherland
and Liberty (ETA) and radical Islamist terrorists and
sympathizers. Spain's 40-year battle against ETA has given
its security forces - and their intelligence wings -
considerable CT expertise, although the GOS continues to
adapt its methods to combating decentralized radical
Islamists. Spain also faces a confluence of organized crime
syndicates involved in the contraband of narcotics and other
drugs, human trafficking and illegal immigration, money
laundering and credit card fraud, and document falsification.
Meanwhile, the SNP and GC increasingly are expanding their
representation overseas as attaches in Embassies. Embassy
Madrid recommends that USG interlocutors press Rubalcaba on
sending GC and/or SNP personnel to help train security forces
in Afghanistan and Iraq.


5. (C//NF) We believe Rubalcaba fully understands the extent
of the lack of inter-agency cooperation between the SNP and
the GC, as well as stovepipe problems between them and
Spain's National Intelligence Center (CNI). He has
overhauled the MOI to achieve greater inter-agency
efficiencies. In 2006 he created an Organized Crime
Intelligence Center (CICO) and in 2007 he created a National
Center of Critical Infrastructure Protection (CNPIC). The
director of Spain's National Center for Counter-Terrorism
Coordination (CNCA, roughly equivalent to the NCTC) reports
to Rubalcaba. XXXXXXXXXXXXX Rubalcaba has overseen a
very forward-leaning CT strategy against both radical
Islamists and - following the late 2006 car-bombing of the
Madrid airport, which ended its unilaterally declared
cease-fire - ETA. The GOS prides itself that its
preventative justice approach, disrupting terrorist cells
before they become operational, has resulted in no deaths at
the hands of radical Islamists since 2004. Rubalcaba
realizes he needs the USG on CT issues and therefore he has
been cooperative with U.S. interlocutors on that topic.

//FOUR PROSPECTIVE BILATERAL ACCORDS//


6. (C//NF) Rubalcaba's staff tells us he hopes to sign up to
four accords during his visit:

I) A US-proposed agreement on Preventing and Combating
Serious Crime (PCSC),as discussed in Ref E.

II) An agreement on Cooperation in Science & Technology for
Homeland Security Matters, using the existing US-Mexico
agreement as a template.

III) 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.

IV) An MOU to strengthen bilateral cooperation and reinforce
efforts to locate fugitives.

//PROSPECTIVE ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION PER MEETING//


7. (C//NF) Rubalcaba hopes to sign the above accords with the
DHS Secretary, with whom he also will discuss protecting
critical infrastructure and combating counterfeit money. He
will discuss ETA, border control issues, and the CSI. He
also will suggest the creation of an alert system regarding
the theft of nuclear materials by terrorists. Finally, he

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will propose an exchange of liaison personnel to have
officials present in each others' headquarters. On a
multilateral issues, Rubalcaba will address GOS plans to
"revitalize" the US-EU transatlantic partnership during
Spain's EU Presidency. This may include an embryonic idea
for a joint US-EU declaration on the fight against terrorism
to be signed in Madrid on March 11, 2010, the sixth
anniversary of the Madrid train bombings.


8. (C//NF) With the Attorney General and FBI Director,
Rubalcaba will discuss the prospective accord on fugitives
(See above). He also wants to discuss the CODIS database,
cybercrime issues, cooperation regarding ETA, a proposal to
intensify cooperation with the DEA, and efforts to fight
organized crime and money laundering. He also will raise the
GTMO detainee issue. Rubalcaba will have a role in deciding
the GOS decision on the GTMO, based on security concerns and
freedom of movement issues. Post recommends that Rubalcaba
would be a logical person with whom to press the message that
the various universal jurisdiction cases against former USG
officials are not helpful.


9. (C//NF) Embassy Madrid is sending via other channels the
proposed agenda for Rubalcaba's meetings with the DNI, CIA
and NCTC.


10. (C//NF) The GOS has asked for an appointment with the
U.S. National Security Adviser, with whom Rubalcaba would
like to discuss the US-EU transatlantic agenda, a declaration
of CT principles (See Para 9),and the issue of Guantanamo
detainees. The Minister also would like to address radical
Islamic terrorism in the Af/Pak region and in the Sahel.


11. (C) We suggest Washington interlocutors thank Rubalcaba
for the excellent anti-organized crime and counter-narcotics
relationships we enjoy in Spain and urge that we work jointly
to find ways to improve the already good CT relationship.
DOJ in particular will wish to thank him for Spain's
assistance in extraditing arms trafficker Monzer al-Kassar in

2008.

CHACON