The Pegasus effect on Spanish intelligence
The serious crisis in Spanish intelligence brought down the distinguished CNI’s outstanding chief in a controversial decision by Prime Minister Sánchez. Lessons for Colombia.
By Juan Carlos Buitrago Arias | June 3, 2022
Prime Minister Sánchez dismissed Paz Esteban López on May 11, bringing an end to the intelligence chief’s long and distinguished career.
Compartmentalization—the “need to know”—is the classic, universal principle for protecting secrets. It turns those involved into privileged witnesses and unites them through loyalties that, paradoxically, are strengthened or fractured in moments of crisis: the daily whirlwind of intelligence services. Neither the courts, the media nor society can fully unravel the abstract web of actors and interests surrounding state secrets. Among those involved are rulers, officials and political allies of the governing party, all temporary occupants of public offices who, with suspicious curiosity, seek to co-opt intelligence officers, establish informal parallel channels of communication, exert influence and become “friends of the house.” They act as intruders constantly watching intelligence processes and, more seriously, seeking to exploit them for personal, political, financial and sometimes unlawful purposes. This explains the value of doctrine, training, specialization and the structure of trust protecting officers, capabilities and classified information within state security agencies.
Paz Esteban López, a graduate in philosophy and literature, became the first woman to lead Spanish intelligence, the CNI, in April 2020. An outstanding leader recognized by the international intelligence community, she specialized in foreign intelligence and brought integrity, intelligence and an exceptional career of almost 30 years in the field. She was dismissed on May 11 of this year. With the “amnesia” often characteristic of true intelligence professionals, she departed saying, “the past is the past.” The defense minister, her principal defender, described her departure as a “replacement,” following a difficult appearance before the Spanish Parliament’s Official Secrets Committee amid the crisis triggered by the Pegasus case.
Since the beginning of this year, Spain has faced one of its largest scandals following an investigation published by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab cybersecurity institute. It uncovered forensic evidence of the hacking of at least 63 mobile devices belonging to Catalan leaders involved in the upheaval surrounding the 2017 declaration of Catalan independence. This provided the Spanish government with the perfect opportunity to deflect political responsibility for its handling of the Catalan crisis and place the entire burden on the National Intelligence Centre. Paradoxically, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez ended Paz Esteban’s distinguished career using the weak argument that the security of the head of state’s communications had been put at risk, although this is not intelligence’s mission. Ironically, the CNI itself, through the National Cryptologic Centre, detected and informed the defense minister of cyberattacks on the phones of the prime minister, the interior minister and the foreign minister. The intrusions coincided with the Moroccan crisis on May 11, 2021, after 8,000 migrants attempted to enter Spain. The episode also involved the 73-year-old president of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Brahim Ghali, whose admission to Spain for COVID-19 treatment angered Morocco.
This provided the perfect opportunity for the Spanish government to deflect political responsibility for its handling of the Catalan crisis and place the entire burden on the National Intelligence Centre.
Spain’s National Intelligence Centre, the CNI, is one of Europe’s most professional and advanced intelligence services. Its capabilities have provided both the Spanish government and the European Union with precise intelligence to guide decisions on the migration crisis, Islamist terrorism, cyberthreats and separatist movements. For Latin America and the Caribbean, the CNI has been a partner in training, technical cooperation and information exchange. It also created, led and sustained the Ibero-American Intelligence Services Forum (FOSII) for more than 10 years, bringing regional agency directors together annually around shared strategic objectives.
Educating successive governments about responsible intelligence use is no easy task. Getting leaders to accept political responsibility in a crisis, as privileged witnesses and exclusive users of intelligence, has not happened—at least in Colombia. Dismissing or replacing intelligence chiefs to evade their own obligations is commonplace. This is where the dignity, strength, professionalism and primacy of intelligence in serving the nation’s higher interests become evident.
Increasingly complex security challenges and threats require state security agencies to have more resources, specialized personnel and cutting-edge tools far superior to those now available to organized crime. Procurement is legally confidential for national-security reasons and takes place under the authorization and supervision of the Ministry of National Defense. Operations are regulated, and the National Intelligence Law strengthened mechanisms for oversight, supervision and transparency. Yet shortcomings persist and have provided fertile ground for covert practices without traceability that distort the purpose and nature of national intelligence.
Colombian intelligence services must learn from the serious crisis facing Spanish intelligence. The service’s maturity—a positive esprit de corps grounded in principles and values—and its level of professionalism enable it to handle an unprecedented situation with strict control of internal tensions. Its members watch their leaders’ maneuvers in frustrated silence while admiring the calm, sensible attitude of their experienced former director, their legitimate leader. Another significant issue is growing public scrutiny of security agencies’ access to and use of personal data, as demonstrated by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab and its surprising, devastating report. Big Brother has changed arenas: a warning that demands strict adherence to the Constitution and the law.
LPNSN: After 20 years, security is no longer among the priorities on the incoming leader’s agenda. Chile is experiencing this, with violence and crime battering the country. Discouraging the exercise of legitimate authority puts national stability at serious risk.
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