The Diplomat in Spain

Santiago Cabanas and Fernando Valderrama. 

L. Ayllón / A. Rodríguez. 17/07/2018

The President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, have already decided that Santiago Cabanas will be the substitute of former Defense Minister Pedro Morenés as ambassador to the United States, said sources to The Diplomat. In the same way, has been asked the agrément to Russian authorities to appoint Fernando Valderrama as ambassador in Moscow.

Borrell, already announced the relief of Morenés, who put his position at the disposal of the new Government, as well as the permanent representative before the UN, Jorge Moragas, who will be replaced by Agustín Santos, as The Diplomat reported.

Now, Pedro Sánchez has opted to request the agrément to Washington for a career diplomat with extensive experience and who has held positions of responsibility with both PP and PSOE’s governments. He is currently the Ambassador to Algeria, position for which he was appointed a year ago, after having been, between May 2013 and May 2017, Ambassador to Jordan.

Santiago Cabanas, 64 years old and diplomat since 1981, was appointed General Director of Foreign Policy and Security in July 2011, with PSOE still in power, and, when the government changed, he continued in office until May 2013, at the time of García Margallo as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Previously, having been in 1998 director of the Cabinet of the then Foreign Minister Abel Matutes, Cabanas was General Director of Consular and Migratory Affairs and Ambassador to the Czech Republic. In addition, since 2005, he spent several years in the United States as General Consul in Miami, where, among other issues, he was in charge of relations with the Cuban community in exile.

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The Government opts for experienced diplomats to be posted to Washington and Moscow

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As for Fernando Valderrama, whose destination will be the Russian Federation, he is also an experienced diplomat, 67 years old and 37 years in the Foreign Service, who had just concluded his stay as General Consul in Mexico after holding the same post in Montpellier (France).

Valderrama, who will replace the former Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Ignacio Ybáñez, appointed in March 2017, has been Spain’s Permanent Representative to the OSCE and Ambassador to Uruguay, as well as «number two» at the embassies in Israel, Luxembourg and Iraq.

In August 2000, Fernando Valderrama was Chargé d’Affairs in Baghdad and the only Spanish diplomat there. In October 2002 presented his resignation due to irreconcilable differences with the policy developed by the Government of José María Aznar that supported military intervention of US President George Bush in the Arab country. The then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ana Palacio, penalise him with eight months of suspension without pay for his statements to the media, a sanction that was appealed.