ID

27592

Etiquetas

PGOV, PREL, MOPS, PTER, SP

Fecha

2005-02-24 13:00:00

RefID

05MADRID703

Origen

Embassy Madrid

Clasificación

CONFIDENTIAL

Destino

Encabezado

Contenido

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 000703

SIPDIS

FOR EUR/WE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/24/2015

TAGS: PGOV, PREL, MOPS, PTER, SP

SUBJECT: SPANISH DEFENSE MINISTER TELEPHONES CHARGE ON

VENEZUELA SALE

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires J. Robert Manzanares,

reasons 1.4(b) and (d).

1. (C) Minister of Defense Jose Bono telephoned Charge

February 22 to explain Spain's decision to sell military and

civilian ships to Venezuela. Saying he wished to follow up

with Charge after Bono's appearance before Congress's defense

commission a day earlier (during which the Defense Minister

answered questions about the Venezuela sale and Spain's

Afghanistan deployment), Bono explained that Spain would

likely sell a petroleum-carrying vessel, a ship that

transports asphalt and five "patrol boats" to the Chavez

government. He emphasized the Spanish government has

received "assurances" from Caracas that the patrol ships will

not be used for offensive purposes, but would be used to

protect Venezuela's maritime borders and Exclusive Economic

Zone. (Note: Other sources have told us the ships are

actually corvettes capable of being armed with naval guns and

missiles. A press report indicated the vessels would be

similar to Spain's "Descubierta" class corevettes with a

displacement of 1,500-1,800 tons. End note.) The principal

reason Spain was making the sale to Venezuela -- reportedly

worth over 600 million euros (USD 780 million) -- was to give

a shot in the arm to ailing state-owned ship building firm

Izar. The sale would be "very significant for Izar," said

Bono, but would not tip the military balance in the region.

He also told Charge that the Zapatero government had

conferred with the Uribe government and the Colombians "did

not see major problems" with the sale.

2. (C) Comment: Bono likewise telephoned Charge from

Caracas when he made his unannounced "discreet" trip there in

late January to assure us he was not doing anything untoward.

His latest call is another indication that the GOS and Bono

in particular well understand U.S. concerns about Spain's

developing relations with the Chavez government. Despite

that, Izar's economic woes are front and center, driving

Spain's intense interest in selling ships to Venezuela. U.S.

concerns aside, Spain will likely move forward to take

advantage of an opportunity to tamp down labor unrest at the

state-owned company.

MANZANARES;"