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El Pais
Eleven secret telegrams from Wikileaks refer to Portugal.
Find out about all the secret Wikileaks, according to country, released
by El Pais. Eleven refer to Portugal.
As regards Portugal, El Pais has made available eleven secret telegrams
that originated in the US Embassy in Lisbon. Five of them show how Jose
Socrates and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Luis Amado, “authorised
the fly over of American planes carrying prisoners repatriated from
Guantanamo prison”, without ever recognising this publicly. According to
the telegrams, Portugal guaranteed “virtual free access to air and
maritime space in order to support military operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan, with more than three thousand flights per year”.
In reaction, Luis Amado said on Friday that he could not guarantee 100%
that secret CIA flights destined for Guantanamo, transporting terror
suspects, did not pass through Portuguese air space. If proven to the
contrary, Portugal would demand an apology from the US and present a
“strong protest”. Up until now, says Amado, the principle of good faith
has operated between the two countries. Regarding the secret CIA
flights, the US Ambassador in Lisbon states, in a telegram directed to
the then Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, that “Portugal is a
strong ally”.
Another telegram from the US
Embassy in Lisbon, dated September 2007 and released last Monday refers
to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in May of that year, stating
that it was the British police who discovered evidence against the
parents.
The parents of Madeleine McCann today lamented the “unfounded
allegations” about their involvement in the disappearance of their
daughter motivated by the information released by Wikileaks about the
suspicions of the British police in regard to the couple.
In addition, North American diplomats analyse the relation between
Portugal with Venezuela. In one of two telegrams reference is made to
“Cavaco Silva falling out of favour for not having had a meeting in the
Oval Office with George W. Bush”, during a visit to the US in 2007,
relating this situation to the delay in the recognition of Kosovo and
the decision by Portugal to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. The
President of the Republic is considered by the North American Embassy to
be the most popular politician in Portugal
US diplomacy also follows the profile of Manuela Ferreira Leite in a
telegram dated 26th April 2008. Considered a “protegee of Cavaco Silva,
the former Minister for Education and Finance is described as a
“capable” politician and “widely respected for her intelligence and
experience” who would make a “formidable leader of the PSD”.
Jose Socrates is also targeted in the telegrams, being seen as a
“charismatic leader”, who “worked hard to improve his English” before
the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union in 2007. |
