By An Observer*
Photo Credit: La Moncloa Gobierno de España and Heraldry (Modified) / Flickr & Wikimedia / Creative Commons
Spain’s political crisis and problems facing the European Union have undermined Madrid’s ability to pursue interests in Latin America at a time of new opportunities. Amidst countless months of lameduck government and the failure of either the Partido Popular (PP) or the Partido Socialista (PSOE) to form a government, the country is also tied in knots over corruption scandals, including some touching a Cabinet member and the royal family, and Cataluña’s persistent challenges to central authority. Even before the current mess, Prime Minister Rajoy had shown only modest interest in Latin America, and King Felipe hadn’t yet demonstrated the mettle of his father, who once famously told Venezuelan President Chávez to shut up at an Ibero-American Summit. Adding to Spain’s distractions are a series of EU challenges, ranging from refugee crises to terrorism and the Mediterranean countries’ debt overhang. Spanish elites, who remain committed to the EU vision, are seized with concerns about Brexit, the UK’s flirtation with withdrawal, and perplexed by the absence of a renewed integration project.
Madrid’s declining role coincides with changes in Latin America that would normally grab its attention. President Obama and Raúl Castro’s historic normalization of diplomatic relations has opened the door to at least one major U.S. hotel firm signing contracts to refurbish and manage several Cuban hotels – an industry in which Spain previously had extraordinary advantages. Having played “good cop” with Cuba for many years, compared to Washington’s “bad cop,” Madrid’s future role on the island is at most uncertain. The election of market-friendly President Macri in Argentina, where the previous government nationalized a Spanish energy company and adopted other policies causing bilateral estrangement, also represents an opportunity for Spain. The near-completion of peace talks between the Colombian government and guerrillas should be the crowning jewel of a foreign policy in which Spain made a strong political investment early on, but Madrid has receded to the role of bit player. At a time that Latin Americans continue to espouse support for CELAC and other regional organizations that exclude Spain (and the United States), Spain-sponsored Cumbres Iberoamericanas since 1991 have – even more than the U.S.-sponsored Summit of the Americas – lacked dynamism and produced little as the beacon of the Spanish transition was dying down
By turning inward, Spain risks losing what remains of its special cachet as Latin America’s link to Europe and as a country that made a successful transition to democracy with inclusion, human rights, vibrant media, and increasing transparency. Its political capital in the region is running low, and budgetary constraints have diminished its aid budgets (from 0.5 percent of GDP to 0.13 percent). But opportunities remain. Big Spanish companies – Telefónica, Banco Santander, BBVA, Repsol, and others – and numerous mid-sized firms have shown interest in Latin America. Cuba’s reluctance to embrace U.S. ties too tightly and too fast gives Spain important space to play a role if it wants. Moreover, Spain’s diplomatic skills, critical for Central America’s peace processes and elsewhere, could still be a positive force in that subregion. If it weren’t for former Spanish Prime Ministers’ contradictory roles in Venezuela, where U.S. baggage undermines Washington’s approach to political, economic, and security problems, Spain could be active there too. But the Prime Minister and his cabinet have not given the Foreign Ministry the green light to get more deeply involved. It’s not too late for Spain to turn things around and get back into the game in Latin America. For that to happen Spain needs more consistent governance.
April 18, 2016
* The writer is long-time non-academic observer of Spanish foreign policy in Latin America.
AULA Blog 
Marcie Neil
/ April 19, 2016I find it curious that the “non-academic observer”/author of this post chooses to remain anonymous while criticizing Spain’s retreat from the neoliberal development-as-foreign-policy approach to Latin America. Whether due to his/her own economic interests in the area or just the application of a thick US foreign policy lens, this position undermines the country’s potentially noble approach to prioritizing its own issues before meddling further into a region undergoing considerable discord. Spain’s issues, as the author would agree, are no joke. In addition to the ones already highlighted here, the country’s widespread precarity culminating in the crisis-level “desahucios” should be addressed with strategies that go beyond inequality deepening austerity measures and/or ethnocentric barriers to democratic participation. By striving toward a sustainable self-governance model that attempts to reconcile human rights and democracy within its own sphere, Spain is also arguably positioning itself to return to a prime leadership role for post-neoliberalistic engagement in the region.
I agree with the author that Spain’s historically superior diplomatic leadership in Cuba could put it at an advantage there when compared to the US. Its traditionally more socialist-friendly approach to governance could even help Cuba build additional barriers against the tidal wave of foreign investment that’s set to come barreling down onto Cuban shores. Spain’s retreat from opportunistic development models elsewhere in Latin America—including the subtle neoliberal advantages that attempt to piggyback onto peacemaking processes–also suggest that Spain has been acting “consistently” in terms of its self-governance strategies, though perhaps just not in the way that this “observer” would ultimately deem “valuable.”
-Marcie Neil, MA Spanish & Latin American Studies ’15
FranciscoFerreira
/ April 20, 2016Typical neoliberal approach. This observer seems to care only for the interests of Spanish corporations, and not at all for those of Spanish or –even less- Latin American peoples, which are very different.