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S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 000277 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/11/2017 
TAGS: PREL BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL: AMBASSADOR'S JANUARY 30 DINNER WITH 
GENERAL ARMANDO FELIX, BRAZILIAN MINISTER FOR INSTITUTIONAL 
SECURITY. 
 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR DENNIS HEARNE. REASONS: 1.4 (B)(D). 
 
¶1. (S) Summary.  Ambassador hosted a dinner for Brazilian 
Minister for Institutional Security, General Armando Felix on 
January 30.  Felix was accompanied by his newly appointed 
deputy, Major General Ruben Peixoto Alexandre. Political 
Counselor and Regional Affairs Officer were in attendance. 
The Ambassador invited Felix to dinner to discuss the 
upcoming visits to Brazil by senior USG officials, as well as 
a number of bilateral liaison relationship topics. 
Ambassador also asked for Felix's views on closer Brazilian 
ties to NATO.  Felix was in a relaxed mood and frank in his 
discussions, while Alexandre remained silent for most of the 
evening.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (S)  The Ambassador had requested the dinner in order to 
discuss the upcoming visit of the U.S. Attorney General and 
to gauge Felix's willingness to meet with the AG, and assist 
in setting up a meeting with the Presidential Chief of Staff 
for Brazilian President Lula, Dilma Rousseff.  (Note: The 
meetings did occur, per Felix's commitment. End note.)The 
likelihood of a late 2007 visit of the DCIA was also 
discussed, and Felix repeated throughout the meeting that he 
believed Brazil's intelligence relationship with the USG was 
extremely important to Brazil, and that continued 
communication between the two respective intelligence 
services was vital because of the ability to communicate 
frankly and rapidly without the obstacles of protocol and 
bureaucracy. 
 
¶3.  (S) Felix stated he was disappointed over the U.S. 
Treasury unilateral designations of triborder area Hizballah 
targets.  For continued joint CT Operations in Brazil his 
expectation is that the USG will treat the Brazilians as 
equals and not take this type of unilateral action in the 
future without first coordinating with the Brazilian 
government. 
 
¶4.  (S) Ambassador noted a recent meeting between Brazilian 
Foreign Minister Amorim and Dutch Foreign Minister Bot, in 
which the Dutch Minister explained the benefits of 
cooperative relations with NATO.  Ambassador asked Felix -- 
as Lula's security advisor and a senior military officer -- 
for his views on the issue. 
 
¶5.  (S)  Felix appeared circumspect and said that Brazilians 
must face the fact that "a price must be paid" to attain a 
global leadership role.  Brazil must be willing to modernize 
and deploy its forces for international operations and 
confront the prospect "of body bags returning to Brazil." 
Felix said that he, both personally and as a military man, 
believed the time had come for Brazil to pay the price and 
assume a leadership position in world affairs.  He opined 
that closer cooperation with NATO would be received 
positively as an issue for discussion with Brazil's military 
leaders, many of whom share Felix's view. 
 
¶6.  (S)  Regarding Venezuela, Bogota and Bolivia, General 
Felix down played the rhetoric of Venezuelan President 
Chavez, saying he had little influence on Brazilian internal 
politics, and that as long as neighboring governments were 
democratically elected, Brazil would try to be as 
accommodating as possible to their particular political 
idiosyncrasies.  He commented that Chavez is receiving 
primarily negative press in Brazil, and that only a small 
percentage of political fringe groups might actually support 
Chavez in Brazil.  Felix also believed that Morales in 
Bolivia poses little political threat to Brazilian interests, 
but was concerned about Bolivian narcotrafficking and its 
impact on crime in Brazil's major cities.  Felix stated that 
 
BRASILIA 00000277  002 OF 002 
 
 
he was unaware of any FARC related risks to Brazil, but 
committed to working with both the USG and Colombian to 
support the democratically elected government of President 
Uribe.  This included working together against transnational 
crime targets, including narcotrafficking, money laundering, 
and arms trafficking. 
 
¶7.  (S)   Felix also discussed the political versus 
operational coordination of such collaboration.  Felix gave 
his approval for expanding cooperation, but did not make any 
new commitments during the meeting.  Felix expressed his 
intention to keep the USG engaged with them over intelligence 
and threat planning for the Pan American Games currently 
scheduled for summer 2007 in Rio de Janeiro, stating that 
preparations were progressing well. 
 
¶8.  (S) Comment.  Felix was remarkably candid, causing some 
visible surprise in his deputy.  It will be interesting to 
see whether Felix retains his position, and this frank 
communication with us can go on. 
 
Sobel