From Cuba to the embassy: the profile of Benjamín León Jr.
The disagreement with Pedro Sánchez and the NATO commitment
Geopolitical key issues: Cuba, Venezuela and the ‘Zapatero case’
“If the Spanish Prime Minister hasn’t even received me, I very much doubt he’ll want to invite President Donald Trump.” With this simple deduction, US Ambassador Benjamin León Jr. concluded the breakfast organised for him by the New Economy Forum, attended by over a hundred business leaders, journalists and some Spanish politicians.
Introduced by Josu Jon Imaz, current CEO of Repsol and former president of the PNV, the highest-ranking representative of the US administration in Spain demonstrated that, at 82 years of age, his diplomatic skills remain fully intact.
Without treading on the exclusive territory of either his superiors Donald Trump or the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, the ambassador did not shy away from any question, taking great care to distinguish, in the controversies and disputes between Spain and the United States, the “difference between governments that come and go and peoples that remain”.
Recalling the 250 years of existence that the United States will celebrate this very year, 2026, and to whose independence the Spanish Monarchy contributed so much at the time, Benjamin León Jr. noted that “in these great relations, the best is yet to come in the next 250 years, in which joint cooperation and innovation will continue to be the norm”.
Josu Jon Imaz, current CEO of Repsol and former president of the PNV – PHOTO/Pedro González
From Cuba to the embassy: the profile of Benjamín León Jr.
The ambassador, of Canarian descent, like his wife, was born in Cuba, which he left at the age of sixteen, “following the Castro regime’s betrayal of the Revolution, for which it had relied so heavily on the support of the people that it entered Havana without firing a single shot”. With barely five dollars in his pocket, he began a new life in Florida, in a country that gave him every opportunity, both to pursue his projects and life ambitions, and to be called upon to serve as its ambassador to Spain.
A post which, after thinking it over for five days, he accepted and “of which I feel proud, full of satisfaction and ready to lay the foundations so that the United States and Spain remain united and firmly established on the shores of freedom for another 250 years”.
The ambassador set out four priorities for his term of office:
Strengthening collective security.
Building a fairer economic relationship.
Warning of the real risks posed by China.
Deepening mutual cooperation with regard to Latin America.
To achieve all this, “the future,” he said, “demands leadership, vision and action, because that is how great alliances are strengthened”.
Ambassador Benjamin León Jr. outlines the key aspects of the Trump administration – PHOTO/Pedro González
The disagreement with Pedro Sánchez and the NATO commitment
In case anyone harbours any doubts as to why President Donald Trump has Pedro Sánchez in his sights, the ambassador referred to the commitment made at the Hague summit in 2025 “by all NATO member states, including Spain, to increase their defence budgets to 5% of their respective GDPs. The Spanish Prime Minister also made this commitment and signed it, only to then proclaim that he will not fulfil what he promised to fulfil.”
In this instance too, Benjamín León reiterated that, whenever President Donald Trump recalls this episode and this serious point of contention, he is also careful to conclude with a final remark: that the best thing about Spain is the Spanish people, thereby drawing a clear distinction between the government and the Spanish people.
With regard to many of the other burning issues in current geopolitics, the US ambassador delved into some; he highlighted and recalled obvious aspects in others, and referred the most sensitive ones to whatever Trump and Rubio decide, associating them on practically every occasion he mentioned them.
Geopolitical key issues: Cuba, Venezuela and the ‘Zapatero case’
Scepticism regarding aid to Cuba
Regarding his native Cuba, after highlighting the deplorable situation of poverty, hunger, lack of resources and even the risk of the spread of unknown diseases on the island, the ambassador stressed that his administration has set aside one hundred million dollars in humanitarian aid for Cuba, but that it will only be delivered if such aid is distributed by the Catholic Church.
This mistrust stems from the bad experience of seeing how 80% of the humanitarian aid sent by Europe to Cuba has ended up in the pockets of GAESA, the Castro regime’s state-owned company, which owns virtually the entire island’s economy and whose assets abroad are estimated at around 20 billion dollars.
The accusation against Raúl Castro of having shot down light aircraft and murdered members of the organisation Brothers to the Rescue is based on a video in which Castro himself orders the shooting down and murder. A single aircraft was not shot down at that time.
Ambassador Benjamin León Jr. outlines the key aspects of the Trump administration – PHOTO/Pedro González
It was piloted by the founder of Hermanos al Rescate himself, a personal friend of Benjamin León Jr. That aircraft, for which the current ambassador paid $100,000—which was used to help alleviate hunger in Haiti—has been fully repaired and restored to its original condition, with the same colours it displayed during that failed rescue mission. “I am keeping it to return in it to my country of birth when this regime, which betrays the Revolution it so loudly proclaims, disappears,” revealed the diplomat.
The three phases for Venezuela
Regarding Venezuela, he stated that he has not the slightest doubt that the opposition leader, María Corina Machado, will return to the country and stand in democratic elections. However, he qualified this by saying that Trump and Rubio’s programme for Venezuela consists of three phases, “and we are only in the first, which, due to the war in Iran, is taking longer than anticipated”.
Caution regarding Rodríguez Zapatero
And, finally, the name that dominates the headlines in Spain and some other countries could not be left out: Rodríguez Zapatero. The ambassador’s body language suggested he had a very firm opinion regarding the man so often praised as a moral beacon of socialism. Nevertheless, with great diplomatic caution, he limited himself to explaining that “the Zapatero matter is under investigation in the United States and in Spain, so I cannot make any comment”.