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R 091949Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8880
INFO RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 9816
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 6616
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 4335
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UNCLAS BRASILIA 000832 
 
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WHA FOR SHANNON AND DUDDY 
 
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ETRD OVIP EINV BR
SUBJECT:  AMBASSADOR REVIEWS BILATERAL AGENDA WITH PRESIDENTIAL 
CHIEF OF STAFF ROUSSEFF 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  On April 25, Ambassador met privately with Lula Chief of 
Staff Dilma Rousseff in the wake of a prior meeting between visiting 
DOE A/S Andrew Karsner and Rousseff (reported septel).  In this 
subsequent give-and-take session, the Ambassador raised a number of 
pending issues with Rousseff in an effort to advance our bilateral 
agenda. 
 
¶2. (SBU)  Specifically, the conversation touched upon the 
following: 
 
--   Rescheduling the Rousseff Visit to Washington.  Because Lula 
needed her in Brasilia, Rousseff had just cancelled a scheduled May 
1-2 visit to Washington.  She stated that while she had been very 
much looking forward to the trip, the nature of her job made any 
type of foreign travel any iffy proposition.  She hoped to 
reschedule for the future, although in the end whether she could 
travel would always depend upon the president's agenda at the time. 
 
 
--   Upcoming Visits of Secretaries Paulson and Leavitt. 
The Ambassador noted that Treasury Secretary Paulson might travel to 
Brasilia in early July and requested a meeting for the Secretary 
with President Lula.  Rousseff said that she would check the 
president's schedule and get back to us.  Ambassador also requested 
that both Rousseff and Health Minister Temporao meet with HHS 
Secretary Leavitt to discuss topics such as malaria prevention when 
 
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the Secretary visits Brazil later in the year.  While the U.S. 
wanted to partner with Brazil on malaria prevention in both the 
Amazon and sub-Saharan Africa, the Ambassador stated, it appeared 
that the Foreign Ministry only contemplated cooperation in the 
latter region.  Minister Rousseff assured us that this was not the 
case and offered to make both herself and Health Minister Temporao 
available to meet with Secretary Leavitt. 
 
--   Infrastructure and Bilateral Investment.  The Ambassador noted 
that while Brazil sought to attract greater foreign investment up 
until now it had been unwilling to consider negotiations on a 
comprehensive bilateral investment treaty (BIT).  Conclusion of a 
BIT, he observed, would do much to bring investors to Brazil, 
particularly in the area of infrastructure.  Rousseff suggested that 
Emboffs meet with the Planalto (i.e., the President's office) 
personnel responsible for infrastructure issues to discuss how best 
the U.S. private sector could assist in this area.  (Embassy is 
currently endeavoring to set up such a meeting.) 
 
--   Sale of Diplomatic Properties.  Minister Rousseff stated that 
many people were asking her about the contemplated agreement 
allowing the sale of U.S. diplomatic properties.  The Ambassador 
explained that an INSS (social security tax) dispute prevented us 
from disposing of unneeded properties. The Foreign Ministry had 
drafted legislation (yet to be submitted to Congress) which, if 
passed, would permit the U.S to sell these structures - and, in 
turn, free up the purchase by Brazil of properties in New York and 
Atlanta.  Rousseff promised to check into the status of the draft 
legislation and make sure that it was timely submitted to the 
Brazilian congress. 
 
--   CEO Forum.  Finally, Rousseff inquired about the status of the 
Brazil-U.S. CEO Forum.  The Ambassador replied that the first 
meeting should take place sometime this summer and noted that many 
prominent CEOs (Motorola, Intel, Coca-Cola, Ford, GM, Alcoa, 
Citigroup, Principal Financial Group, etc.) had applied for Forum 
membership.  For her part, Rousseff pledged to provide the Embassy 
with an official list of the Brazilian CEOs that had been selected 
to participate. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Comment.  In coming weeks, we shall continue our dialogue 
with Rousseff on these and other issues.  Sometimes dubbed the "Iron 
Lady" - but never to her face - after President Lula she is perhaps 
the second most powerful figure in Brazil.  Her willingness to 
engage in meaningful dialogue with us bodes well for our ongoing 
efforts to expand our partnerships with Brazil.  Our ultimate goal 
is to finally get her to travel to the U.S. to meet her Washington 
counterparts, although that may eventually depend upon the vagaries 
of Lula's schedule more than anything else. 
 
Sobel