WikiLeaks on Zapatero: ‘Inexperienced but probably manageable’

Spanish President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero probably won’t be all that flattered by this embassy cable, written just after his election in 2004, describing him as "inexperienced but probably manageable": It is important to recall that Zapatero, who is 43, has no experience whatsoever in government administration. He has served as a member of the ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.

Spanish President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero probably won't be all that flattered by this embassy cable, written just after his election in 2004, describing him as "inexperienced but probably manageable":

Spanish President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero probably won’t be all that flattered by this embassy cable, written just after his election in 2004, describing him as "inexperienced but probably manageable":

It is important to recall that Zapatero, who is 43, has no experience whatsoever in government administration. He has served as a member of the Parliament since he was 26.

–The Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) was shocked that they won the elections and Zapatero and his people are scrambling to figure out what to do. He also made a number of campaign statements that might have come out differently had he thought he had a real chance of becoming president of the government of Spain.

Of course, four years later, the United States would elect a 47-year-old president with just four years in the senate.

Zapatero was elected immediately after the Madrid train bombing on a platform of pulling Spanish troops out of Iraq. But at the time, the U.S. embassy thought there might be some room to work with the new government: 

We have already seen some ‘wiggle room’ in public statements on certain issues, including possibly on the pull out of Spanish troops from Iraq. Zapatero,s possible foreign minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos indicated in the March 18 Wall Street Journal that a UN resolution prior to June 30 could provide the context in which Spanish troops could remain. If by May we are beginning to negotiate a resolution and if France and Germany are on board, Zapatero might agree to leave the troops in Iraq.

The last Spanish troops left Iraq in May, 2004.

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

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