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March 04, 2006

Spain's Minister of Justice Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar Speaks on the Challenges Confronting Europe in Today's Globalized World

“With the changes brought by the new globalized world, we face so many challenges to bring justice. We should all be aware that there is a 'dark side' to globalization,” Spanish Minister of Justice Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar told students and faculty of The Fletcher School, as he spoke on the challenges confronting the European Union (EU) and Spain's own experiences in fighting terrorism, transnational crime and illegal immigration.

Minister Aguilar, a Fletcher alumnus, spoke on March 3 before an audience made up of both the Fletcher community as well as Spanish scholars and professors from other Boston-area schools as part of the Charles Francis Adams lecture series.

He has served as Minister of Justice since April 18, 2004 in the government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

Minister Aguilar said his experience studying at Fletcher gave him the opportunity to study international relations from various perspectives and to be with students and speakers from diverse backgrounds. In particular, Minister Aguilar recalled having met and shook hands with then Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzales when the latter gave a talk at Fletcher in 1988—an incident which, he says, further enriched his experiences as a student.

Minister Aguilar said that Spain has a unique perspective on fighting terrorism because the country’s legal system has dealt with the long-running domestic terrorist threat from the nationalist ETA movement. He said the Spanish government has created very specific judicial tools, some embedded in its Constitution, to address terrorism and transnational crimes. According to Minister Aguilar, the mandate to tackle these issues is centralized in the Spanish National Court, which has justices and prosecutors who have received special training in the field.

“The Spanish government has tried to be inventive in coming up with proposals for a framework that would protect its citizens against terrorists and organized crime”, Minister Aguilar said. In particular, he said that Spain had actively pushed forward initiatives on the creation of the European Police, a regional judicial network, and European arrest warrants in the EU.

However, Minister Aguilar said that while Spain must sustain the fight against organized crime and terrorism, “(W)e should still observe the fundamental rights of the people and be careful in our approaches.”

Minister Aguilar said that one of the biggest issues confronting Spain now is the influx of illegal immigrants, most of whom come from African countries. He laid out the Spanish government's approaches in addressing the problem.

“First, at the local level, we fight transnational human traffickers. The government also coordinates with other European countries in addressing the issue, particularly with France which has more experience on the matter. Spain, along with the EU, is also committed to addressing the problem of African states which are really in pure despair. But more importantly, we must not forget to recognize the human rights of these immigrants and to help them integrate into our labor market,” he explained.

“In other words, we must not consider each individual who comes to our country as a threat to our security. We have to be able to draw the line,” Minister Aguilar stressed.

Minister Aguilar also touched on the relationship between Spain and the U.S., particularly on the Spanish government's decision to withdraw its troops from Iraq in April 2004.

“As a member of government, I know that the decision to pull out troops from Iraq has been controversial and seen as a divisive line and a breach of trust and cooperation between Spain and the U.S. However, there was major opposition from the Socialist party and the Spanish people to the U.S. decision to enter Iraq. In his campaign, Prime Minister Zapatero made a commitment to the Spanish people to withdraw our troops. When the Socialist party won the elections, he had no choice but to honor his word,” Minister Aguilar explained.

He added that following the incident, relations between Spain and the U.S. have remained strong in the political, economic, social and cultural realms, and that both countries are committed to pursue this cooperative alliance.

“I do not think that the bilateral relationship should be judged in terms of the decision to withdraw our troops, which was mainly a commitment of Prime Minister Zapatero to the Spanish people,” he said.

Minister Aguilar stressed that Spain remains committed to fighting terrorism through means that have the support of both the international community and the Spanish parliament. “Spain has a strong presence in a number of peacekeeping missions all over the world, and we will continue to support similar initiatives as long as we have the support of the Spanish people,” he said.

By Sharon R. Rivera, MALD '07

Posted by jessica at March 4, 2006 11:38 AM