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November 23, 2008
New Script for Spain's Director
By Jim Hoagland
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was an hour away from visiting the White House, a goal he had chased since taking office four years ago. The welcome from President Bush, no matter how grudging or low-key, would cement the Spanish prime minister's legitimacy as a world leader.So Zapatero's spirits were high as we talked about the imploding world economy, U.S. problems with Venezuela and the war in Afghanistan. Nothing could dim his hopes that he would now visit 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. fairly often to see Bush's successor and his new best friend forever, Barack Obama.The two have much in common -- and the president-elect had cleverly gone through each point of similarity in a warm telephone call to Zapatero six days earlier. If Obama needs a European to ride shotgun, as Tony Blair did with Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Zapatero may be the one.They were both born on Aug. 4, a year apart. (Zapatero is 48, Obama 47.) Tall, lithe and slender, the two men are passionate about basketball. Each has two daughters. And each has taken power in the name of a new generation and fundamental change after years of conservative rule.But as the quick, elegant Spaniard talked on, it became clear that some aspects of personality, and of national interests, might constrain the restoration of Spanish-American relations that both leaders favor.Zapatero is, after all, a committed Socialist whose 2004 election victory over Spain's conservatives was widely (and wrongly) viewed abroad as a fluke. He would never repeat it in 2008, it was said -- until he did in March.Untutored by defeat, Zapatero can be brash and provocative, while Obama works at being cautious and reassuring. And Zapatero's biggest ideas concern social change -- hauling Spain out of its patriarchal and church-dominated past, as roughly as necessary -- rather than celebrating the bliss of bipartisanship.Signature issues for Zapatero's second term are legalizing assisted suicide, liberalizing Spain's unevenly applied abortion laws and increasing church-state separation. He is proud of having enacted laws permitting quick divorces and same-sex marriages -- a step that made Spain "a much more decent country," he said through his interpreter.
Not exactly Obama's arms-length approach to same-sex marriage nor that of Zapatero's fellow European leaders, for that matter. More like that of Pedro Almodóvar, the culturally subversive director who brilliantly mocks Spain's religious, gender and sexual hang-ups in his films. When I asked Zapatero if he aspired to be the Almodóvar of Spanish politics, he grinned broadly, nodded and praised "this great director."Spain "has a strong will to modernize itself," Zapatero told me. "We have kept our promises of change. It is not always easy, but you must do it." He returned to that theme later when asked about Obama and the U.S. presence in Iraq. "Government is powerful. Politicians can and must carry out their promises. . . . It was a war that should never have been started."It was on Iraq that Zapatero burned -- make that nuked -- his bridges with Bush by withdrawing Spanish troops immediately after his 2004 election without seriously consulting the United States.Zapatero was to depart for his hotel shortly for a White House dinner to begin the Group of 20 economic summit, an event foisted on Bush by French PresidentNicolas Sarkozy, who then engineered Zapatero's invitation. But Obama and the future were on the Spaniard's mind, not rehashing the recent ice age in Spanish-American cooperation.Obama's election "means that in countries where the U.S. flag was being burned before, it is being waved now," Zapatero said. "This is a historic opportunity for the United States to be better understood" abroad. Spain could be particularly helpful in Latin America. In Venezuela and Cuba, Spain wants to work with Europe and the United States "to strengthen democratic institutions."Spain -- the world's eighth-largest economy -- is gripped by serious unemployment and by an oversupply of housing. But Zapatero proudly noted the strength of the country's banking system, "which did not fall for deregulation and for the ideological model" of free enterprise. "Such ideology does not accept facts and does not understand that history is contingent."On Afghanistan, where Spain has 800 soldiers: "Europe needs to listen to Obama, and Obama needs to listen to Europe. We have been increasing troop numbers, not massively, but the fight for security becomes less successful. We have to have a global strategy" to bring political, social and security change at once.
And then Zapatero was off to the White House to shake hands with Bush, a surreal moment that would top Pedro Almodóvar at his best.
jimhoagland@washpost.com
New Script for Spain's Director
By Jim Hoagland
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was an hour away from visiting the White House, a goal he had chased since taking office four years ago. The welcome from President Bush, no matter how grudging or low-key, would cement the Spanish prime minister's legitimacy as a world leader.So Zapatero's spirits were high as we talked about the imploding world economy, U.S. problems with Venezuela and the war in Afghanistan. Nothing could dim his hopes that he would now visit 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. fairly often to see Bush's successor and his new best friend forever, Barack Obama.The two have much in common -- and the president-elect had cleverly gone through each point of similarity in a warm telephone call to Zapatero six days earlier. If Obama needs a European to ride shotgun, as Tony Blair did with Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Zapatero may be the one.They were both born on Aug. 4, a year apart. (Zapatero is 48, Obama 47.) Tall, lithe and slender, the two men are passionate about basketball. Each has two daughters. And each has taken power in the name of a new generation and fundamental change after years of conservative rule.But as the quick, elegant Spaniard talked on, it became clear that some aspects of personality, and of national interests, might constrain the restoration of Spanish-American relations that both leaders favor.Zapatero is, after all, a committed Socialist whose 2004 election victory over Spain's conservatives was widely (and wrongly) viewed abroad as a fluke. He would never repeat it in 2008, it was said -- until he did in March.Untutored by defeat, Zapatero can be brash and provocative, while Obama works at being cautious and reassuring. And Zapatero's biggest ideas concern social change -- hauling Spain out of its patriarchal and church-dominated past, as roughly as necessary -- rather than celebrating the bliss of bipartisanship.Signature issues for Zapatero's second term are legalizing assisted suicide, liberalizing Spain's unevenly applied abortion laws and increasing church-state separation. He is proud of having enacted laws permitting quick divorces and same-sex marriages -- a step that made Spain "a much more decent country," he said through his interpreter.
Not exactly Obama's arms-length approach to same-sex marriage nor that of Zapatero's fellow European leaders, for that matter. More like that of Pedro Almodóvar, the culturally subversive director who brilliantly mocks Spain's religious, gender and sexual hang-ups in his films. When I asked Zapatero if he aspired to be the Almodóvar of Spanish politics, he grinned broadly, nodded and praised "this great director."Spain "has a strong will to modernize itself," Zapatero told me. "We have kept our promises of change. It is not always easy, but you must do it." He returned to that theme later when asked about Obama and the U.S. presence in Iraq. "Government is powerful. Politicians can and must carry out their promises. . . . It was a war that should never have been started."It was on Iraq that Zapatero burned -- make that nuked -- his bridges with Bush by withdrawing Spanish troops immediately after his 2004 election without seriously consulting the United States.Zapatero was to depart for his hotel shortly for a White House dinner to begin the Group of 20 economic summit, an event foisted on Bush by French PresidentNicolas Sarkozy, who then engineered Zapatero's invitation. But Obama and the future were on the Spaniard's mind, not rehashing the recent ice age in Spanish-American cooperation.Obama's election "means that in countries where the U.S. flag was being burned before, it is being waved now," Zapatero said. "This is a historic opportunity for the United States to be better understood" abroad. Spain could be particularly helpful in Latin America. In Venezuela and Cuba, Spain wants to work with Europe and the United States "to strengthen democratic institutions."Spain -- the world's eighth-largest economy -- is gripped by serious unemployment and by an oversupply of housing. But Zapatero proudly noted the strength of the country's banking system, "which did not fall for deregulation and for the ideological model" of free enterprise. "Such ideology does not accept facts and does not understand that history is contingent."On Afghanistan, where Spain has 800 soldiers: "Europe needs to listen to Obama, and Obama needs to listen to Europe. We have been increasing troop numbers, not massively, but the fight for security becomes less successful. We have to have a global strategy" to bring political, social and security change at once.
And then Zapatero was off to the White House to shake hands with Bush, a surreal moment that would top Pedro Almodóvar at his best.
jimhoagland@washpost.com
Escrito por el periodista dos veces ganador del Pulitzer Jim Hoagland , se insiste en subrayar las semejanzas entre Zapatero y Obama, incluso en el terreno personal.
"Ambos nacieron el 4 de agosto, con sólo un año de separación. Altos y delgados, los dos hombres son apasionados del baloncesto. Cada uno de ellos tiene dos hijas. Y cada uno ha tomado el poder en nombre de una nueva generación y un cambio fundamental después de años de un imperio conservador".
Tal y como recoge EFE, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero afirma en la entrevista al periodista Jim Hoagland que los gobernantes pueden mantener sus promesas de cambio, "aunque no siempre sea fácil", según recoge la edición digital del diario The Washington Post.
Tal y como recoge EFE, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero afirma en la entrevista al periodista Jim Hoagland que los gobernantes pueden mantener sus promesas de cambio, "aunque no siempre sea fácil", según recoge la edición digital del diario The Washington Post.
Para el jefe del Gobierno español, la elección de Obama supone que "en países donde antes se quemaba la bandera de Estados Unidos ahora es saludada". En su opinión "esta es la oportunidad histórica de Estados Unidos para ser mejor comprendidos" en el exterior, principalmente en Latinoamérica, donde España puede tener un papel particularmente relevante.
Zapatero trató, en la entrevista con Hoagland, de subrayar las ventajas que podría reportar a EEUU tener un aliado como España, que contribuirían a reforzar las posiciones de Obama en toda Latinoamérica.
Zapatero trató, en la entrevista con Hoagland, de subrayar las ventajas que podría reportar a EEUU tener un aliado como España, que contribuirían a reforzar las posiciones de Obama en toda Latinoamérica.
El Gobierno de Zapatero, junto con la Unión Europea y EEUU, quiere "fortalecer las instituciones democráticas" de Cuba y Venezuela", añade el rotativo.
Rodríguez Zapatero afirma, al ser preguntado por el próximo presidente estadounidense Barack Obama y por la presencia militar norteamericana en Irak, que "los políticos pueden y deben cumplir sus promesas". El gobernante español, que sostiene que "fue una guerra que nunca debió comenzar", tenía en mente el futuro de las relaciones entre España y Estados Unidos durante su reciente visita a Washington para la reunión del G-20, asegura el diario.
"Europa necesita escuchar a Obama y Obama necesita escuchar a Europa. Hemos ido aumentando las tropas (desplegadas en Afganistán), no masivamente, pero la lucha por la seguridad es cada vez menos exitosa. Tenemos que tener una estrategia global", agrega.
The Washington Post presenta también la reciente visita de Zapatero a la Casa Blanca como un éxito de la administración española, así como un reconocimiento "a regañadientes" del presidente saliente George W. Bush de la importancia mundial de España: en este punto, Hoagland cree que España puede representar para Obama un importante apoyo europeo, al igual que Tony Blair lo fue para Bill Clinton o el propio Bush. En sus declaraciones al periódico antes de intervenir en la cumbre del G-20, Zapatero presume de la fortaleza del sistema bancario español, pese a la alta tasa de desempleo y el exceso de oferta inmobiliaria.
Rodríguez Zapatero afirma, al ser preguntado por el próximo presidente estadounidense Barack Obama y por la presencia militar norteamericana en Irak, que "los políticos pueden y deben cumplir sus promesas". El gobernante español, que sostiene que "fue una guerra que nunca debió comenzar", tenía en mente el futuro de las relaciones entre España y Estados Unidos durante su reciente visita a Washington para la reunión del G-20, asegura el diario.
"Europa necesita escuchar a Obama y Obama necesita escuchar a Europa. Hemos ido aumentando las tropas (desplegadas en Afganistán), no masivamente, pero la lucha por la seguridad es cada vez menos exitosa. Tenemos que tener una estrategia global", agrega.
The Washington Post presenta también la reciente visita de Zapatero a la Casa Blanca como un éxito de la administración española, así como un reconocimiento "a regañadientes" del presidente saliente George W. Bush de la importancia mundial de España: en este punto, Hoagland cree que España puede representar para Obama un importante apoyo europeo, al igual que Tony Blair lo fue para Bill Clinton o el propio Bush. En sus declaraciones al periódico antes de intervenir en la cumbre del G-20, Zapatero presume de la fortaleza del sistema bancario español, pese a la alta tasa de desempleo y el exceso de oferta inmobiliaria.
El País subraya como el periodista norteamericano considera a Zapatero todo un "socialista comprometido": Todo ello pese a reconocer las diferencias entre España y EEUU, ya que, según señala, las leyes del matrimonio homosexual, el divorcio express o la que denomina como "suicidio asistido", nunca tendrían cabida en Norteamérica.
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