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DE RUEHRI #0363/01 3131057
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O 091057Z NOV 09
FM AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0010
INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0001
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA IMMEDIATE 0008
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE IMMEDIATE 0004
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO IMMEDIATE
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RIO DE JANEIRO 000363 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/09 
TAGS: PREL MARR CASC UNSC IR BR
SUBJECT: A/S SHANNON MEETS WITH MRE POLITICAL UNDERSECRETARY GENERAL 
FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS 
 
RIO DE JAN 00000363  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Lisa Kubiske, Charge d'Affaires; REASON: 1.4(B), (D) 
 
SUMMARY 
 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) On October 22, 2009, WHA Assistant Secretary Tom Shannon 
met with Ambassador Vera Machado, Under-Secretary General for 
Political Affairs from the Ministry of External Relations (MRE) in 
Salvador, Bahia, on the margins of the Third Steering Group Meeting 
for the Joint Action Plan to Eliminate Racial Discrimination 
(reftel).  Charge d'Affaires, WHA/BSC Office Director, and Rio 
Pol/Econoff (notetaker) also attended the meeting.  The MRE's 
Director for United Nations Division Gilda Motta Santos Neves, 
Director for U.S., Canadian, and Inter-American Affairs Department 
Carlos Abreu, and the Brazilian Embassy Chief of Staff to the 
Ambassador in Washington Alexandre Ghisleni accompanied Machado. 
 
 
 
¶2. (C) Machado praised plans for a U.S.-Brazil high-level dialogue, 
and suggested adding the topic of gender.  She said the U.S.-Brazil 
Defense Cooperation Agreement was in the "final" stages of analysis 
in Brasilia.  A/S Shannon raised the Sean Goldman custody case in 
the context of Brazil's Hague Convention obligations.  UN Division 
Head Gilda Motta Santos called Brazil's upcoming term as an elected 
member of the Security Council (UNSC) "special," and suggested 
regular, strategic consultations with the United States on UNSC 
issues.  A/S Shannon strongly urged Machado to exercise the MRE's 
influence with Iran to promote democracy and human rights, to which 
she agreed, stating the MRE would ask Iranian President Mahmoud 
Ahmadinejad to stay the executions of hundreds of democracy 
protesters.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
U.S.-BRAZIL DIALOGUE 
 
 
 
¶3. (C) Machado praised the plans for a high-level Dialogue and 
suggested adding the topic of gender, stating, "It would send a 
good signal to Secretary Clinton."  On overall dialogue issues, 
Abreu said MRE faced a challenge on mechanisms that were not 
State/MRE-led.  He suggested creating mechanisms at the ministerial 
level and then transferring leadership to the presidential level. 
According to Abreu, dialogue mechanisms not under MRE control 
"don't work well."  He criticized other ministries for a "lack of 
institutional memory," and suggested the GoB could improve this by 
emulating the existing bilateral Economic Policy Dialogue (EPD), 
which incorporates effective recording of minutes. 
 
 
 
BRAZIL'S NEW AMBASSADOR TO UNITED STATES 
 
 
 
¶4. (C) With the arrival of a Mauro Vieira, the new Brazilian 
Ambassador to the United States, Machado said the MRE was in a 
process of "change."  She stated the MRE was producing a paper with 
ideas on possible new areas of bilateral engagement.  With Vieira 
in Washington, Machado said, there will be "lots of advances." 
Machado expressed concern about a possible delay of Ambassador 
Vieira's confirmation in the Brazilian Senate.  While explaining a 
window of time currently exists to push through the confirmation, 
she said such a window would likely close by mid-December when the 
Brazilians break for the holidays. 
 
 
 
DEFENSE COOPERATION AGREEMENT 
 
 
 
¶5. (C) According to Machado, the U.S.-Brazil Defense Cooperation 
Agreement was in the "final" stages of analysis in Brasilia, and 
the Ministry of Defense (MOD) was "very favorable" towards it. 
Abreu said the agreement was similar to other bilateral defense 
agreements Brazil had entered into, citing Namibia as an example. 
He claimed these similarities helped to make the Brazilian 
inter-ministerial review process easier. (Note: Embassy was 
subsequently informed that FM Amorim has provided MRE approval of 
the DCA to the MOD.  End note.) 
 
RIO DE JAN 00000363  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
SEAN GOLDMAN CASE 
 
 
 
¶6. (C) A/S Shannon raised the Sean Goldman custody case in the 
context of Brazil's Hague Convention obligations, urging the MRE to 
help return Goldman to his father's custody.  Ghisleni suggested 
that U.S. Members of Congress should avoid "inflammatory speech" in 
a Congressional hearing on child abductions scheduled for early 
November.  According to Ghisleni, harshly-worded language could be 
a potentially negative influence on a court proceeding in Rio de 
Janeiro, to take place shortly following the hearing. 
 
 
 
BRAZIL'S ELECTED MEMBER ROLE IN THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL 
 
 
 
¶7. (C) UN Division Head Santos called Brazil's upcoming term as an 
elected member of the UN Security Council "special," explaining 
that many countries were very interested to see how Brazil would 
use its seat. "Although this is our 10th time on the Council, there 
is a sense that this time is different," she said.  According to 
Santos, Brazil now needs more "contacts" on UNSC issues, and she 
suggested regular "strategic" consultations, as opposed to an "as 
needed basis," between MRE and State.  "We have a lot to learn from 
you," she said.  Machado also stressed the need for closer 
coordination with the United States in the UN, and mentioned human 
rights as a specific area. 
 
 
 
IRAN 
 
 
 
¶8. (C) A/S Shannon strongly urged Machado to exercise the MRE's 
influence with Iran to promote democracy and human rights.  He 
encouraged Brazil to use its voice with President Ahmadinejad to 
stay the executions of the hundreds of protesters arrested after 
the presidential elections last June.  Machado agreed with A/S 
Shannon's concern and said the MRE would raise the issue with the 
Iranians.