The Spanish government’s Cuba policy seems to have seriously backfired. Not only has Zapatero’s foreign policy further eroded Spain’s relationship with the US, it has also resulted in a loss of credibility from other European democracies.
This article by Soeren Kern insightfully explores the self serving motivations and disastrous outcomes of Zapatero’s foreign policy.
Spanish Foreign Policy Hits Rocks Over Cuba
Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and his political spin doctors have been especially busy this summer. Indeed, they have been making furious rounds on the national television talk show circuit, trying to explain to an increasingly skeptical Spanish public just why the Socialist government’s “progressive” foreign policy of coddling third world despots has turned Spain into one of the most marginalized countries in the European Union.
The rest of this worthwhile read here.
Spain will hold elections next year. Hopefully Zapatero will get the boot.
Zapatero and company deserve to get the boot for a lot of reasons, even apart from the Cuba issue, but even if that happens, the problem (which was there long before Zapatero) won’t disappear. It is ultimately about the mindset, attitudes and psychology of Spaniards in general.
They have to let 1898 go, finally and for good. They have to stop the paternalistic special relation bullshit. And they have to admit their guilt (at least over the last 50 years) AND do something about it.
I’m not giving them any kind of pass for being the “mother country.” A mother is as a mother does. So is a calculating bitch. There’s been FAR too much damage and wrongdoing to wash it all down with sentimental excuses. We’ve been screwed, pretty much by everybody, and if we don’t demand respect, we’ll never get it.
“Zapatero tiene zilch chance de ganar las elecciones españolas . El partido Popular triunfara espectacularmente en Marzo”.
Fantomas julio 17, 2007