US Ambassador says he was misinterpreted; CiU suspects action of Spanish diplomatic corps

  • James Costos said business leaders must "look at things that are coming down the pike and make decisions based upon that" and that "if things change, companies will make adjustments accordingly"

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01.07.2014 - 13:47

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The Ambassador of the United States in Madrid, James Costos, said his government was “watching this and of course are interested” in what is going on in Catalonia and at the independence process, and said that if Catalonia ends up becoming independent, US companies will “make adjustments accordingly”. “Things change, economic environments change, and when that happens, any business leader has to think about the future. If things change, companies will make adjustments accordingly,” he said in a business lunch in Madrid in response to questions posed about the United States Government point of view and of US companies with respect to Catalonia.

At the end of his prepared remarks, Costos was asked a series of rather contentious questions about Catalonia’s independence process:

“Catalonia’s evental independence might be unfortunate, and would certainly mean uncertainty for North American interests and for the diplomatic relationship between Spain and the US and yet your government has kept out of the issue by saying it is an internal affair, as if the US were indifferent despite acting differently in other similar situations. Why do you have this attitude?” Antonio Moreno from TeleMadrid says that “How has an eventual advance in Catalonia’s secession process been considered by the American administration: as an internal matter of Spain, or as a matter that affects the international community? Pedro González says “President Obama has said clearly that he does not want the United Kingdom to break apart, with respect to the possible secession of Scotland. Is that his opinion about Spain and Catalonia?”

[Questioner] Don’t tell me you weren’t expecting that question! [Laughter in the crowd and from Costos]

Costos replied that in the eyes of the US diplomatic corps this is “of course, an internal matter” of the Spanish State, ensured that his team and American business leaders are “of course are interested about what the outcome will be”.

Nevertheless, Costos did not echo the position of the Spanish Government about a supposed economic fiasco should Catalonia become independent and instead noted that US companies would adjust to the new scenario. “There are always things in flux that any business leader—and having been one in the past—you have to look at things that are coming down the pike and make decisions based upon that.”

Here is his complete statement. The audio is available in the right-hand column.

“I get asked this all the time, and my answer is always the same. This is, of course, an internal question. I would say that the United States, my embassy, our team, business community, American companies are watching this and of course are interested about what the outcome will be. My position has always been that in any business, people look at the future, things change, economic environments change. There are always things in flux that any business leader—and having been one in the past—you have to look at things that are coming down the pike and make decisions based upon that. I think that this is what companies are doing, I think that people are watching, just as the United States is. We’ll see what happens. And if things change, companies will make adjustments accordingly.”

Catalan Government response and Costos tweet

Later in the afternoon, Catalan Government Executive Councilor Francesc Homs said that the ambassador’s remarks “unravel the Spanish State’s propagandistic headlines” and that in general “the response of the business world is that the independence process is not endangering Catalonia’s financial growth”. “They present a situation of great tension in Catalonia, but then you look at the data and foreign investment is surpassing the best forecasts,” Homs noted.

An hour or so later, Costos tweeted:

But he was not clear about just what was misintepreted, or who had done the misinterpreting.

Jordi Turull, the president of the CiU parliamentary group said, “It’s becoming increasingly common for someone to make declarations saying what they think and later have to rectify because the Spanish diplomatic corps has gone into action.”  

Last January, the US President, Barack Obama, refused to issue a statement against Catalonia’s independence, when asked to do so by the president of the Spanish Government, Mariano Rajoy. In a joint press conference during Rajoy’s official visit to the United States, Obama also avoided answering a question about Catalonia’s independence. In contrast, with reference to Scotland, in June he did say that he was in favor of a “strong, robust, united and effective partner” in Great Britain, although he also stressed that the decision should be made by the people of Scotland themselves.

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