This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRASILIA 001471 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/31/2015 
TAGS: MARR MOPS MASS PREL BR POL MIL
SUBJECT: BRAZIL REFUSES TERMS OF PROPOSED NOTE ON MILITARY 
EXERCISES 
 
REF: A. BRASILIA 838 
     ¶B. BRASILIA 815 
     ¶C. WHA/BSC - EMBASSY/POL TELCONS AND EMAILS 
     ¶D. STATE 54960 
 
Classified By: DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION PHILIP CHICOLA. REASONS: 
1.4 (B) 
(D). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary.  The GOB has rejected our proposal to grant A 
and T status to U.S. servicemembers coming to Brazil for the 
PKO South and Patriot Angel exercises.  GOB officials have 
indicated that a diplomatic note with language similar to 
that used in the past would be acceptable.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (C) Per refs, Brazil's Ministry of External Relations 
(MRE) has been considering terms proposed by USG on 29 March 
for an exchange of notes establishing status of forces 
protections and immunities for U.S. servicemembers coming to 
Brazil for military exercises, with specific focus on 
establishing the terms through exchange of notes prior to the 
upcoming PKO South and Patriot Angel exercises.  Per ref C, 
PolCouns subsequently stressed to MRE action officers that 
granting of Technical and Adminstrative-level 
protections/immunities under the Vienna Convention would be 
the key issue for the U.S., and also provided MRE a non-paper 
prepared by USG interagency legal experts that delinked the 
SOFA notes from Article 98 issues and the ICC.  Mission MLO 
officers double-tracked progress on the issue with senior MOD 
officials, who voiced strong support for securing an 
agreement that would facilitate the exercises, and indicated 
that a letter from Defense Minister/Vice President Alencar to 
FM Amorim would be sent in support of granting A/T status to 
U.S. forces in the exchange of notes. 
 
¶3.  (C) On 27 May, PolCouns met with MRE action officer 
Marcos Pinta Gama, who told PolCouns informally that MRE 
attorneys and Secretary General Pinheiro Guimaraes had 
forwarded to the MOD a recommendation that Brazil not/not 
grant A and T status to U.S. servicemembers, and recommending 
that the GOB seek agreement from the USG to conduct the 
upcoming exercises under the terms of previous diplomatic 
note texts used in the past to cover joint exercises.  Pinto 
Gama explained that, in the MRE's view, the 
protections/immunities explicitly provided under the Vienna 
Convention for A/T status personnel are of a fundamentally 
different and broader order than protection afforded U.S. 
personnel in the past, and would raise a range of legal and 
even constitutional questions for the GOB that would require 
time to resolve.  Pinta Gama asked informally whether the USG 
could use the terms of earlier notes to cover the immediate 
exercises while the governments worked toward a longer-term 
solution.  PolCouns replied that the question would have to 
be referred to SOUTHCOM and Washington. 
 
¶4.  (C) On 30 May MLO Chief was called to the Defense 
Ministry by Admiral Miguel Angelo Davena, Secretary for 
Political, Strategic and International Issues, and provided a 
copy of a letter from Davena to General Craddock, Combatant 
Commander, SOUTHCOM.  In the letter Davena formally states 
the position relayed per ref 2, i.e., that the MRE had 
indicated that military exercises in Brazil involving U.S. 
forces should proceed under the same terms for protections 
used in the past.  Davena said that he considered it a 
"personal failure" that he had not been able to successfully 
persuade MRE and MOD senior authorities to grant A/T status, 
and asked MLO chief to convey his hope that the U.S. and 
Brazil would still find a way to proceed with the exercises, 
which Davena said the MOD and Brazil's service commanders 
consider to be crucial. 
 
¶5.  (C) Comment.  Unless we are prepared to provide the GOB 
with a diplomatic note with essentially the same text as used 
in the pastm the exercises in question cannot proce