EUA elogiam indicação de Patriota para Secretaria do Itamaraty em 2009; leia em inglês

ID 235976

Date: 11/20/2009 19:48

09BRASILIA1342

Embassy Brasilia

UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

09BRASILIA1341

Para EUA, Brasil ficou 'perdido' depois de golpe em Honduras
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 001342 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR D, P, WHA E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2019 TAGS: PREL, EFIN, SENV, BR SUBJECT: NEW BRAZILIAN DEPUTY FM SEES NEED TO STEP UP BILATERAL RELATIONS REF: BRASILIA 1341 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i., Lisa Kubiske, reasons 1.4 (b) a nd (d)

1. (C) The CDA paid a courtesy call November 18 on Brazilian Ministry of External Relations (MRE or Itamaraty) Secretary-General (Deputy Minister) Antonio Patriota. Patriota has just taken up his duties following three years as Brazil,s ambassador to Washington. Patriota said he sees great potential for U.S.-Brazil relations to develop, but stressed the need for high-level USG visits and a comprehensive strategic bilateral mechanism in order to avoid the appearance of neglect and to minimize the negative affects on U.S.-Latin America relations of the Honduras situation and the U.S.-Colombia bases agreement. Patriota raised concerns about a pending Tropical Forests Conservation Act agreement and defended Brazil,s invitation to Iranian President Ahmadinejad (reftel). Unlike his anti-American and obstructionist predecessor, Patriota is eager to engage the United States. But he will do so on the basis of a traditional Itamaraty nationalist perspective that remains cautious and often suspicious regarding U.S. actions and motives. End summary.

- - - High-Level Visits, Dialogue, Thinking Needed in Relationship - - -

2. (C) Patriota began by saying -- and repeated twice more over the course of the conversation -- how important it is for U/S Bill Burns to visit Brazil before the end of the year, so that Brazil can receive Secretary Clinton and President Lula early in 2010. He noted that President Lula will be traveling a great deal in the first semester of 2010, and that the second semester will be out of the question in light of Brazil,s October elections. Patriota said the high-level visits are important for the tone of the relationship with Latin America as a whole, and Brazil in particular. They will allow our differences to be seen within a larger, and overall, positive context. Although he has been the first to stress quality of contact over quantity, he said there is a growing sense of neglect, which is made worse by disagreements over Honduras and the U.S.-Colombia base agreement. "We need new developments," he said.

3. (C) The CDA asked Patriota,s views on the prospects for the relationship. Patriota said he thought the relationship could "go very far," but that it will require new, creative thinking on both sides. He identified trilateral cooperation in Africa, defense, the Joint Action Plan to Eliminate Racial Discrimination, UN Security Council matters (in particular, peacekeeping and post-conflict situations), and the Middle East as areas where U.S.-Brazil cooperation could grow. The relationship needs to be more strategic, he said, which is why it is so important to create a "comprehensive mechanism" to provide our various bilateral dialogues with "strategic direction from policymakers."

4. (C) Patriota said that Brazil will not "privilege one relationship to the detriment of others." But he said he has great admiration for President Obama as he addresses the recession and the healthcare in the United States, and that our countries should "work more on what Obama represents to the world: an effort to unite people, rather than separate the world into 'good guys and bad guys'."

- - - Concerns about TFCA - - -

5. (C) In addition to raising the upcoming visit of Iranian President Ahmadinejad (septel), the CDA asked about prospects for concluding a TFCA agreement by Treasury's deadline of November 30. (Note: The TFCA agreement has been in negotiation for over two years, and had sat for months on the desk of Patriota,s predecessor. End note.) Patriota said BRASILIA 00001342 002 OF 002 that MRE had no problems with the agreement, but "other agencies" had concerns about the agreement. For example, the GOB did not want funds going to projects in the Amazon, and wanted only Brazilian NGOs and agencies to have access to the funds. He said that Brazil would present a "counter-proposal" within a week. (Comment: Post has since received and sent to Treasury a non-paper outlining generally the concerns. It is not yet clear whether these can be addressed before the deadline. End comment.)

- - - Honduras, Colombia Bases Not Positive for U.S. Relations - - -

6. (C) The CDA asked how Patriota saw the situation in Honduras shaping up. Patriota said that the situation was "not positive for relations between the United States and Latin America." Some sort of "fig-leaf" was required to allow Zelaya,s reinstatement prior to elections by a sufficient margin for all to "save face." For example, the elections could be moved back, allowing Zelaya to resume office for "at least a couple of weeks" before they occur. Without such a solution, Brazil would be unable to recognize the elections. Patriota said that the GOB does not want this issue to create difficulties between the United States and Latin America, and was heartened that WHA A/S Valenzuela had agreed in their meeting the previous week with Brazil,s view that the Micheletti regime was not fulfilling the deal struck with Zelaya.

7. (C) The CDA raised the U.S.-Colombia bases agreement, saying we the text of that agreement made clear, and we had reiterated to the GOB on many occasions, that our bilateral work with Colombia to fight terrorism and drug trafficking was only within Colombia. Patriota responded that the issue has more to do with Colombia than the United States. It is Colombia that needs to convince its neighbors of its peaceful intentions, and Colombia should agree to a South America-wide agreement against military activity, as transparency on this issue would benefit Colombia as well as others. Furthermore, Colombia needs to reach out to Brazil, in particular, as its inability to manage relations with Brazil is making other countries wary of its intentions. He noted as a positive sign that President Uribe had agreed to attend a regional summit in Manaus that Brazil had called to discuss the Amazon, and that this would provide an opportunity to discuss the bases issue, as well.

8. (C) Comment: Patriota is a definite improvement over his predecessor, the anti-American and obstructionist Samuel Pinheiro Guimaraes, who was made Minister of Strategic Planning when he hit mandatory retirement age for the diplomatic corps this month. Nonetheless, although Patriota knows the United States well and is ready to engage us, he will do so not from a pro-American perspective, but on the basis of a traditional Itamaraty nationalist perspective, in line with the views of FM Amorim, that remains cautious and often suspicious regarding U.S. actions and motives. Even in this brief courtesy call, Patriota made clear that, as Brazil seeks engagement with the United States, it will do so on its own terms. KUBISKE