VZCZCXRO4633
PP RUEHRG
DE RUEHBR #0052 0101829
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 101829Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7804
INFO RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 3670
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 8976
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 6082

UNCLAS BRASILIA 000052 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR OES/SAT FOR BFORD 
STATE FOR WHA/BSC FOR WPOPP 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO NASA FOR OBRIEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TSPA SENV KSCA KTIA TBIO TPHY TRGY TSPL BR
SUBJECT:  BRAZIL REQUESTS SPECIFICS ON SUSPENSION OF ISS 
ARRANGEMENT 
 
REF: 06 STATE 200697 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  SCI Counselor delivered reftel demarche January 
9, to Counselor Maria Teresa Pessoa, Chief of the Division of 
Oceans, Antarctic and Space, Brazil Foreign Ministry (Itamaraty). 
Counselor Pessoa was expecting the visit and aware of the USG desire 
to either suspend or terminate the bilateral International Space 
Station Arrangement (ISS).  GoB appears to be leaning more towards 
suspension but has asked the Embassy to provide further detail on 
what specific steps would be necessary. Post requests Bureau to 
provide information to pass to Itamaraty. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The January 9 meeting between Counselor Pessoa, Science 
Counselor Norman and Science Officer Moore was cordial and frank. 
Counselor Pessoa said that Brazil was surprised to learn during the 
Nov. 9, 2006, meeting between Mr. O'Brien of NASA and Dr. Mussi of 
the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) of the U.S. desire to either 
suspend or terminate the ISS arrangement. They had believed, based 
on their communications with the technical staff in Houston, that 
the relationship was functioning well. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Counselor Pessoa openly speculated as to why the United 
States was making this request. She stated that it might be because 
of the U.S. concern about the cross-waiver of the liability clause 
in the ISS, which when it resurfaced during the recently-completed 
negotiations of the Large Scale Biosphere Atmosphere Amazon Research 
(LBA), proved to be a very contentious issue. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Pessoa stated that the reason the Brazilian commitment to 
the International Space Station ran into budget problems was because 
when the ISS arrangement was negotiated and signed, it immediately 
came into force, circumventing the normal approval process which 
should have included vetting by the Brazilian Congress.  When the 
funding problems became apparent to Itamaraty, it considered 
renegotiating the ISS and sending it through the normal approvals 
process in order to apply for budgetary funds. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Counselor Pessoa stated that Itamaraty would like to 
resolve the ISS issue without any public attention, noting that it 
had already received queries from members of the Brazilian Congress. 
 She stated that cooperation with the United States on all matters 
relating to science and technology, especially in the area of space, 
was essential for Brazil.  Counselor Norman assured Pessoa that the 
United States has no intention of raising this matter publicly and 
that we equally value the relationship with Brazil. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Counselor Pessoa concluded by saying that since the option 
of suspension was not covered in the ISS arrangement, the GoB would 
need to know before making a decision, exactly what suspension would 
entail. Post requests Bureau provide information to pass to 
Itamaraty. 
 
SOBEL