VZCZCXRO7098
RR RUEHRG
DE RUEHBR #1907 2772018
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 042018Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0128
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 6320
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 4338
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 5031
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 3806
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ 5666
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 7040
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 2299
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 6451
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 7197
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 5204
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 0916
RHEHOND/DIR ONDCP WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS BRASILIA 001907 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR INL, WHA/BSC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR EAID KCRM PREL BR
SUBJECT: BRAZILIANS "DARE" TO STRENGTHEN DRUG DEMAND REDUCTION 
PROGRAM 
 
REF: BRASILIA 1893 
 
¶1.  (U) The Brazilian National Anti-drug Secretariat (SENAD) and the 
National Public Safety Secretariat (SENASP) convened a national 
conference on September 27-28 to re-assess the U.S.-based Drug Abuse 
Resistance Education Program (D.A.R.E.), or PROERD as it is known in 
Brazil.  The federal government is now looking to play a role in 
strengthening PROERD by expanding the program's reach beyond 
children to include adolescents and parents.  Paulo Roberto Uchoa, 
the National Anti-drug Secretary (Brazilian Drug Czar), and Dr. 
Antonio Biscaia, Secretary for National Public Safety, headlined the 
conference, which included the participation of PROERD 
representatives from all 26 Brazilian states and the Federal 
District.  Uchoa publicly praised the program's "extraordinary" 
outreach, and committed GOB assistance to help Brazilian states 
locally implement a more ambitious version of PROERD.  He made a 
special point to thank NAS Brasilia for past USG support, adding 
that he hoped to continue the "productive relationship." 
 
------------------------- 
BACKGROUND ON NAS SUPPORT 
------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Brazil's PROERD program, which is modeled after the U.S. 
D.A.R.E. program, was established in 1992 following a successful 
ConGen Rio public affairs speaker program that brought police 
officers from Los Angeles, California, to the state of Rio de 
Janeiro.  NAS financially supported development projects that 
provided regional training to uniformed police officers, and the 
program eventually expanded to all 26 Brazilian states and the 
Federal District.  At its inception, due to limited state budgets, 
nearly all regional and international training courses were 
USG-funded.  PROERD, which is locally implemented by 2,776 uniformed 
state police officers, is now fully financed by state budgets and 
boasts five regional training centers in the states of Sao Paulo, 
Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina, and the Federal 
District.  Cost-sharing has also helped: participating police 
officers are paid from the state budget, and workbooks are often 
provided by local businesses or by parents of children in private 
schools. 
 
¶3.  (U) Over 7 million Brazilian children, and parents in some 
cases, have participated in at least one of the three PROERD 
curricula being implemented countrywide.  Over the years, supporters 
and critics alike have studied, re-assessed, and ultimately adapted 
the program for Brazilian audiences.  Some innovations to the 
delivery method developed in Brazil include translation of the 
program workbook to Braille and training in Brazilian sign language 
(Libra).  PROERD has become the second largest program of its kind 
in the world, and it maintains an important link with the world's 
biggest program: D.A.R.E. in the United States.  Program updates and 
new curricula implemented in the United States are sometimes 
translated and tailored to Brazilian audiences, often delivered by 
U.S. police officers in international conferences or seminars 
supported by NAS. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶4.  (U) USG support has helped PROERD grow from local initiatives 
heavily dependent on USG funding into a virtually self-sustaining 
nationwide drug prevention program.  The GOB, which hitherto had 
maintained its distance from the "state-run" PROERD, appears to be 
warming up to the program's potential.  For the first time in the 
history of PROERD, the GOB has publicly praised it, acknowledged 
some results, and committed federal support to help the various 
state police forces with funding, material, technical support, and 
assistance in coordinating training.  It remains to be seen whether 
SENAD and SENASP can tap into the program's already established 
network to disseminate prevention messages and other services 
through the uniformed state (military) police -- one of the few 
official entities present in nearly all of the Brazil's 5,564 
cities. 
 
CHICOLA