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Pedro Sánchez has decided to force the Regulatory Law of the National Intelligence Center ( CNI ) and surprisingly include Pablo Iglesias in the Government Delegate Commission for Intelligence Affairs. The leader of Podemos will now have access to know and control all the secrets of the State, as well as the rest of the members of the commission.

However, its inclusion has been missing in the Intelligence circles, since its ministry, that of Social Rights and the 2030 Agenda, is not one of those involved in the security and stability issues of the State that are dealt with in that commission.

According to sources close to the negotiation, which concluded on February 20, it is Moncloa who has decided to add Iglesias as a permanent member of this select group and it is expected that, unless Sanchez backs down at the last moment, the Council of Ministers next Tuesday, repeal Royal Decree 1886/2011 and approve a new one with the members of the new commission.

That Royal Decree defined the composition of the commission in the same terms as the Law of the CNI and had not been modified since 2011. Except for last minute changes, the approval of the new Royal Decree will be the official appointment of Iglesias as one of the controllers of Spanish intelligence.

To include Iglesias, Moncloa has made a broad and lax interpretation of Law 11/2002, regulating the CNI, which defines the tasks and composition of this Intelligence Commission. The law only contemplates that a vice-president of the Government presides over the election of the president, but that position will in principle be occupied by vice-president Carmen Calvo, as Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría did in the Government of Mariano Rajoy.

Calvo y Robles, presidents of the commission

In addition, the law provides as permanent members to the Ministers of Interior , Defense , Economy and Foreign Affairs , in addition to the director of the Office of the Presidency of the Government, the Secretary of State for Security and the director of the CNI, who will act as secretary.

It could be thought, then, that Iglesias is included as vice president, but that is not the case, since except for last-minute surprises he will not preside over the commission. In the case of Carmen Calvo's absence, Margarita Robles is expected to do so as Minister of Defense and last responsible for the CNI, which is attached to her ministry. Moncloa accepts that the law defines who makes up the commission, but it is not said that others cannot be included.

What marks the Law of the CNI is that, in addition to those habitual members, "the holders of those other superior and directive bodies of the General State Administration may be summoned to the meetings of the commission that it deems appropriate". However, this exception was provided for specific cases, not to involve others permanently.

One of the main tasks of the Intelligence Commission is to elaborate the Intelligence Directive , which is secret and that is delivered every year to the National Intelligence Center with the objectives to be achieved. It is, therefore, the most important document that the Government provides to the CNI, as it marks its lines of action for the course.

The members of the commission first propose these objectives to Pedro Sánchez as president of the Government, and if he approves them, they are included in the directive.

Catalonia, Venezuela or Bolivia, CNI matters

This commission also carries out periodic monitoring and evaluation of these objectives and the operations of the center. Although it is secret, it is obvious that issues such as the crisis in Catalonia can be part of the directive, since the main mission of the CNI that sets the law is "to prevent and avoid any risk or threat that affects the independence and integrity of Spain, national interests and the stability of the rule of law and its institutions. "

The foreign relations and economic interests of Spain with Venezuela or Bolivia, for example, can also be part of that directive.

All members of the commission are also required to keep secret about what is heard inside. In spite of that, it is not very well understood why Sánchez has decided to grant Pablo Iglesias access to know all the objectives of the CNI and also all the issues that are dealt with within the commission, where the new secretary of State director of the CNI, Paz Esteban, will give account of the tasks of the center.

In addition, this commission can give Iglesias access to much broader information than that coming from the CNI itself, since the law defines that "it will ensure the proper coordination of all the information and intelligence services of the State for the formation of a community. Intelligence".

Police and Civil Guard, in the "community"

The "Intelligence community", although not yet fully developed, includes, among others, the General Information Commission of the National Police or the Information Office of the Civil Guard.

That is, the police units that carry, above all, terrorism issues, but also cases such as the Judas operation, in which several members of the CDR were arrested. Finally, that broad intelligence community includes other civil and military organizations.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Pedro Sanchez
  • Pablo Iglesias
  • Spain
  • Margarita Robles
  • Carmen Calvo
  • Venezuela
  • We can
  • Catalonia
  • Bolivia

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