Rice set to make fence-mending trip to Spain (Reuters)

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Rice set to make fence-mending trip to Spain
Mon May 21, 2007 4:33PM EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice will make a brief visit to Spain next week, the State
Department said on Monday, her first to Madrid as the top U.S.
diplomat after years of tense relations.

U.S.-Spanish ties have been particularly strained since Spain
withdrew its troops from Iraq in 2004 following the election of
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero who trounced Prime
Minister Jose Maria Aznar, a close ally of President George W.
Bush.

"Every relationship has some bumps in the road, but you work
through those in a respectful way and try to build up mutual
understanding so you don't talk past one another," State
Department spokesman Sean McCormack said of Rice's visit.

Aside from Iraq, the two countries have differences over Cuba,
with Spain favoring constructive engagement versus the Bush
administration's isolation policy. There have also been tensions
over Madrid's dealings with Venezuela's strongly anti-U.S.
President Hugo Chavez.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN2135554420070521

[Benhurst]

1. That will do a lot of good.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Supersedeas]

2. the Middle East is falling apart and Dr. Rice is sipping sangria in Spain--nice, shopping too?