VZCZCXRO0076
PP RUEHRG
DE RUEHRI #0295/01 1591610
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 081610Z JUN 07
FM AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3645
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0042
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 3028
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 4713
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0034
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEAWJB/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHDC
RUMIAAA/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 RIO DE JANEIRO 000295 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/FO, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA, INL 
NSC FOR FEARS 
TREASURY FOR JHOEK 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
USAID FOR LAC/AA 
PARIS FOR ECON - TOM WHITE 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: SNAR PGOV PREL KJUS BR
SUBJECT: ASSISTANT SECRETARY PATTERSON'S VISIT TO RIO, MAY 16, 2007 
 
 
REF: SAO PAULO 447 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1.  (U) INL A/S Anne Patterson completed her Brazil travel with a 
May 16 stop in Rio de Janeiro where she held discussions with 
representatives of civil society and local and state government to 
examine public security issues in and around Rio.  She wrapped up 
the visit by meeting with Governor Sergio Cabral.  The meetings 
produced a list of possible areas where the USG and local government 
could cooperate and exchange expertise.  NAS is developing a 
response to the specific assistance requests and is coordinating 
with LEGATT to organize site visits for a proposed visit to the 
United States by a delegation of state security officials.  End 
Summary. 
 
ROUNDTABLE WITH MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) A/S Patterson met with officials from the Rio de Janeiro 
municipal government to learn about the city's drug-related crime 
issues.  The municipal officials present were: Col. Francisco Duran 
Borges, Municipal Secretary for the Prevention of Chemical 
Dependency; Carlos Moraes Antunes, Superintendent of the Municipal 
Guard; Lt. Col. Marcos Antonio, Military Commander and Mayor's Chief 
of Staff for Security; and Marilia Rocha, Municipal Sub-Secretary 
for Social Development. 
 
¶3.  (U) A/S Patterson raised her concern that increased cocaine flow 
from Bolivia could lead to an increase in drug addiction and further 
fuel organized crime in Rio, Sao Paulo and other major Brazilian 
cities.  The participants welcomed U.S. efforts to go beyond the 
federal level and engage state and municipal officials.  They 
explained that public security generally falls under the purview of 
the state government but Rio maintains an unarmed "Municipal Guard" 
of approximately 5,000 officers, whose mission is to patrol public 
areas and tourist attractions.  Given those jurisdictional limits 
and the impunity of Rio's well-structured criminal organizations, 
Mayor Cesar Maia has chosen to focus on demand reduction as the 
city's primary strategy for fighting drug-related crime.  Rio 
municipal secretariat for the prevention of chemical dependence, the 
only one of its kind in Brazil, has introduced anti-drug education 
at the primary school level and is also working with communities to 
do more outreach to at-risk youth. 
 
¶4.  (U) Officials also expressed concern over the rise of militias 
in some parts of the city.  A Rio-specific phenomenon, the militias 
are generally formed by off-duty and retired law enforcement 
officers and charge a "protection" fee to community residents and 
businesses, usually with community support due to their success in 
expelling drug traffickers and delivering social programs.  The 
political and law enforcement regime has ignored the militias, 
allowing them to strengthen and gain legitimacy. 
 
¶5.  (U) During the meeting, the city officials reiterated Mayor 
Maia's interest in the three main areas of possible collaboration 
that he outlined following Attorney General Gonzales' February 2007 
visit to Rio: the desire to learn more about U.S. experiences and 
best practices with drug abuse and addiction prevention programs, 
information on community policing programs, and "Compstat" programs 
to provide interface between intelligence and police deployment. 
Stressing that the city would pay the costs of any such exchanges, 
they requested USG assistance in identifying appropriate U.S. 
counterparts and facilitating meetings. 
 
LUNCHEON WITH CIVIL SOCIETY REPRESENTATIVES 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) A/S Patterson had lunch with key community leaders to 
discuss their views on the nature of the security problems in Rio. 
The participants were: Lilia Catao, drug counselor and president of 
the Brazilian Alcohol and Drug Association; Denise Frossard, Federal 
 
RIO DE JAN 00000295  002 OF 003 
 
 
Deputy and former judge; Domicio Proenca Junior, political 
scientist; and Jairo Werner, professor at Federal Fluminense 
University. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Discussing the nature of drug use and trafficking in Rio, 
the group agreed that drug activity in the favelas (slums), while 
currently a hot-button topic, was not truly significant.  Proenca 
Junior asserted that the criminal gangs running the favelas could 
not be moving the volume of drugs necessary to fund their operations 
and that it was more likely that their primary funding came through 
more traditional protection schemes.  In response to a question from 
A/S Patterson, Catao explained that, in her experience, Brazilian 
use patterns differed from those in the United States in that 
consumption was driven more by middle and upper class social users 
than by a smaller group of "heavy users" as is the case in the 
United States.  The group then emphasized the ease with which 
consumers can place orders by phone with a credit card number and 
have the drugs delivered to their door within 30 minutes, as if 
ordering a pizza.  They also lamented that hard data regarding the 
volume and quality of drugs in Brazil for consumption or 
transshipment was not available.  Their explanation, unconfirmed by 
the Mission, is that Brazilian law blocks research into such 
subjects because the information could be used by the traffickers. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The conversation then turned to a discussion of perceived 
shortcomings in the legal system, featuring the standard litany of 
complaints contributing to impunity: police and political 
corruption, lack of investigatory initiative and non-responsive 
courts.  They also discussed the liberal treatment of convicts by 
the prison system, particularly the established practice of granting 
universal furloughs for Mother's Day and Christmas.  Frossard, a 
former judge, explained that judges actually have the discretion to 
block the releases but do not due to an historic sympathy for the 
families of the imprisoned and a lack of political will to revoke 
privilege that has become a prima facie right. 
 
ON TO THE STATE 
--------------- 
 
¶9. (U) A/S Patterson then met with Jose Beltrame, Secretary of 
Public Security for the state of Rio de Janeiro.  Beltrame was 
joined by Ernesto Rubarth, Deputy Secretary for International 
Relations; Gilberto da Cruz Ribeiro, Commander of the Civil Police; 
Delfi Carlos Teixeira, Superintendent of the Federal Police; and 
Col. Ubiratan de Oliveira Angelo, Commander of the Military Police. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Beltrame opened with a brief description of the broad 
security issues facing a major city and tourist destination and 
stressed the state's attention to the special demands in support of 
a high-profile international event such as the up-coming Pan 
American Games that Rio will host in July.  He then moved into a 
more specific discussion of the challenges in dealing with drug 
trafficking and the militias.  Focusing on the role of favelas in 
drug distribution, he explained that, unlike other cities where 
slums were often clustered together or on the outskirts of the city, 
Rio's were dispersed throughout the city, making them difficult if 
not impossible to quarantine.  The physical structure of the favelas 
further complicates police action, first by restricting police entry 
to the neighborhood and then, because they are so densely populated 
with houses literally built on top of each other, it takes days for 
police to sweep an area.  In regard to militias, Beltrame pointed to 
the lack of any Brazilian law specifically criminalizing militias 
and said that any action against them had to rely on proof of their 
involvement in some specific illegal activity. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Beltrame then discussed areas where he was seeking USG 
cooperation and assistance.  In addition to a list of software and 
surveillance/intelligence collection equipment he sought help in 
obtaining, which he provided directly to NAS Brasilia (SEPTEL), 
Beltrame requested USG assistance in building a system and culture 
in Brazil to facilitate data sharing and to enhance Rio's crisis 
management capability.  He was interested in how to stand-up new 
units and manage issues of intercommunication and especially eager 
to send a team to the U.S. prior to July's Pan American games to 
learn more about intelligence sharing.  Embassy Legatt offered to 
help coordinate a trip. 
 
RIO DE JAN 00000295  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
 
MEETING WITH GOVERNOR 
--------------------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) A/S Patterson concluded her Rio stop by meeting Governor 
Sergio Cabral.  After the governor referred to the requests made by 
Beltrame earlier that day, A/S Patterson assured him that the USG 
wanted to work cooperatively with state officials and would consider 
the requests in designing future USG assistance.  Likewise, Embassy 
Legatt affirmed his commitment to organize a visit for the state's 
delegation.  Cabral, for his part, expressed appreciation for USG 
technical assistance in preparing for the Pan Am Games.  Cabral 
expressed many of the same concerns regarding impunity that had been 
raised earlier in the day was forthcoming in his belief that drug 
use in Rio cut across class lines, although the nature of the use 
differed.  Cabral, a father of five, seemed somewhat disheartened by 
the magnitude the drug problem, but A/S Patterson pointed to the 
success in the U.S. of prison treatment programs and of DARE. 
 
¶13.  (U) Before departing Rio, A/S Patterson held a brief press 
conference to discuss the cooperative nature of her meetings and 
stressed USG efforts to work as a partner in the region.  She then 
did a taped interview for the popular Bom Dia Brasil (Good Morning 
Brazil) television program, which was well received. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶14.  (SBU) The day's series of meetings were useful in strengthening 
local understanding of the USG commitment to work cooperatively on 
security and counter narcotics issues, a particularly important 
issue given Brazil's borders with Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and 
Paraguay.  It was also informative to hear local opinions of the 
role of drug trafficking in the favelas and the nature of domestic 
drug use. 
 
¶15.  (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Brasilia and ConGen 
Sao Paulo, and cleared by Ambassador Sobel. 
 
MARTINEZ