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ZNY CCCCC ZZH
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FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9915
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 6271
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 4986
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 7004
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 6408
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 7113
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 5070
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 0744
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA 0047

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRASILIA 001715 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/10/2017 
TAGS: PREL SCUL BR CU
SUBJECT: DEPUTIES PROPOSE TRIP TO CUBA TO INVESTIGATE 
BOXERS' RETURN 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Stephen Liston, reasons 1.4 B and D 
 
¶1.  (C)  Summary.  A delegation of Brazilian federal 
deputies could travel to Havana soon to learn more about 
the Cuban boxers who were returned to Cuba during the PanAm 
games after apparently trying to defect and then undergoing 
a change of heart.  The deputies would try to see the 
boxers to determine whether they have suffered any 
retaliation from the Cuban government, but the president of 
the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies may not allow the trip 
for budgetary reasons.  Although the opposition is keeping 
the incident alive in the press, its criticism of the GOB 
has not resonated much outside of congress.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (C)  Deputies from the Chamber of Deputies Foreign 
Relations and National Defense Committee (CREDN) could 
visit Cuba in September to gather information about the 
circumstances of the return of two Cuban boxers who 
competed in the PanAm Games last July, then apparently 
tried to defect, but suddenly changed their minds.  Last 
week, the CREDN approved a resolution on the Cuba trip, but 
an adviser to Arlindo Chinaglia, president of the Chamber 
of Deputies and a member of President Lula's Workers Party, 
told us that Chinaglia, as Chamber president, must approve 
all official foreign 
travel and might well disallow this trip for budgetary 
reasons.  The adviser said politics would not be an issue in 
the decision and that the presidential palace was not likely 
to pressure Chinaglia to block the trip.  However, the CREDN 
chairman has already traveled extensively, and the Chamber is 
facing growing budgetary constraints. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  When the boxers, Guillermo Rigondeaux and 
Erislandy Lara, asked to go home after having gone missing, 
Brazilian authorities quickly facilitated their request and 
sent them away on a Venezuelan aircraft reportedly 
chartered by the Cuban government.  Intense congressional 
and media attention in the aftermath raised questions about 
the actions of Brazilian authorities and the circumstances 
leading up to the boxers' return.  Press reports described 
a scenario in which the boxers may or may not have had a 
drunken night out on the town, decided not to return to 
Cuba, discussed contracts with a German promoter, applied 
for visas to Germany, then suddenly changed their minds and 
told Brazilian Federal Police (PF) they wanted to go back 
to Cuba.  Local press reports said Rigondeaux and Lara had 
felt pressured after family members in Cuba told them by 
phone that the government had reduced their food rations 
and were threatening to expel them from their homes.  The 
PF, which is under the Justice Ministry, arranged their 
immediate return.  Both houses of congress have called GOB 
officials to testify on their actions; Justice Minister 
Tarso Genro defended the government,s actions as being 
totally within the law, and noted that other Cubans who 
sought asylum have been allowed to stay (note: Rafael 
D'Acosta Capote, a handball player, and Lazaro Lamelas, a 
coach).  Foreign Minister Amorim is due to testify later 
this month.  Members of congress continue to spar over 
whether the GOB did the right thing and whether Brazil 
complied with international norms of behavior. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Comment.  Although it remains unclear at what 
level decisions were made in the GOB, and what role the 
Cuban government played, it seems most likely that the 
Justice ministry did not look behind the boxers' sudden 
change of heart, and simply took the path of least 
resistance.  The Ministry of External Relations's unusual 
public statement after the event, in which it denied any 
part in the decision, seems to support this view.  By 
operating in its usual conflict-avoidance mode and trying 
to rid itself of a potential problem, the Brazilian 
government may have brought on itself unwelcome scrutiny 
from congressional oppositionists who might wish to show 
the government acting against freedom-loving Cubans.  The 
proposed congressional trip is the latest gambit by 
congressional opposition to keep the Cuban boxers 
incident alive.  So far, however, the effort does not seem 
to be resonating much outside the halls of congress. 
 
Sobel