The Government has already expelled three American spies and has requested that a fourth also leave Spain for having captured two CNI agents. The expulsions have been carried out after the formal protest of the Ministries of Defense, on which the National Intelligence Center depends, and Foreign Affairs.
The US agents were stationed in their country's embassy and were considered "registered", that is, accredited as such to the Spanish intelligence services, according to Defense sources. This is a common practice between allied countries and friendly intelligence services, although real friendship never exists in that union.
Being accredited, American spies had greater freedom to move around our territory and deal with fellow professionals. However, they took advantage of that circumstance to recruit the two members of the CNI and, at least on some occasions, pay them in exchange for classified information.
Of these two, the leader was an area chief with 30 years of service, according to the same sources. Furthermore, he was considered a valuable agent both because of his experience (foreign missions, for example), and because of his intelligence. During the pandemic years he had a leave of absence in which he worked for an American company. After his arrest two months ago, he was placed in provisional prison, where he remains to this day.
The second Spaniard arrested was a rather low-ranking procurement agent, an assistant to the first, with whom he also had a lot of friendship. Defense sources explained that he was an agent who had private businesses that had provided him with money and therefore was fond of leading a high standard of living, driving expensive cars, etc., but in reality his boss is considered the brain of the operation. . He had also been working for the CNI for years.
The controls imposed on the center after the case of Roberto Flórez, the first convicted of treason in democracy, detected the leak of information and the investigation was opened.
The expulsion of two American spies from Spain was reported by the newspaper El País. EL MUNDO has been able to confirm, however, that the expulsion currently affects a total of three North American spies, although there is a fourth person who could also follow the same fate.
The activities of American spies have been considered a serious lack of respect between allies, since information is supposed to be shared, and if there is something that is not shared, it must be respected. However, the fact that they were accredited made it easier for them to develop this recruitment in a more indiscreet way, although they clearly did not think that they would be discovered.
The CNI has been very firm from the beginning of this case with the expulsion of all the Americans involved, since alliances between partners have their own rules and must be respected. That is to say, the alliance between intelligence services continues, Spain wants to make it clear that not at the cost of letting anything be done. For now, in addition, the US Government will not be able to fill the vacant positions of these spies registered as legal.
As far as it has been made public, the previous precedent for expulsions of North American agents took place decades ago. Specifically, in 1986, when Felipe González ordered the expulsion of eight CIA agents for spying on the then vice president of the Government, Alfonso Guerra.
This Thursday, the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, ruled out that the ongoing investigation will affect the relationship between the US and Spain. In no case," he stated before journalists when asked during a visit by the Guadarrama "We are serious, allied and committed countries," the minister reiterated.
Robles explained that the investigation of the agents arose as a consequence of the CNI's own work, since it detected that a series of "irregular conduct" was being carried out that could be the cause of a crime. It was Robles herself who confirmed this Monday that a judge had initiated the investigation at the request of the CNI and currently the case is in the hands of the Plaza de Castilla courts (Madrid).
This is not the first time that the US intelligence services have interfered among their allies. Suffice it to remember the espionage of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel for 15 years, the CIA's secret flights during the Iraq war or, more recently, the assault on the North Korean embassy by a commando supposedly subcontracted by the CIA. .
