VZCZCXRO5651
RR RUEHRG
DE RUEHBR #1002/01 2061626
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 241626Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2168
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 6992
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 4670
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 5719
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 4195
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ 6432
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 3908
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 2561
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 0510
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 8314
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 6448
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 2487
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 001002 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: MARR PREL XM BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL: FOUR SENATORS TAKE ON THE FOURTH FLEET 
 
REF: BRASILIA 943 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary.  Four members of the Senate Foreign 
Affairs and National Defense Committee visited Ambassador 
Sobel on July 9 to express objections to the re-establishment 
of the Fourth Fleet, and called on President Bush to reverse 
it.  They asked the Ambassador to transmit their objections 
to both U.S. presidential candidates.  They repeated their 
objections to waiting media outside the Embassy gate. 
Mission is conducting public affairs outreach to counter 
misconceptions about the Fourth Fleet.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  On July 9, Ambassador received four members of the 
Senate Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee who 
wanted express objections to the re-establishment of the 
Fourth Fleet.  Their visit followed recent statements by 
Presidents Lula and Chavez at the Mercosul Summit last June, 
covered in generally negative media reports.  In a related 
development, Ambassador met with FM Amorim on July 3 to 
discuss the Fleet (reftel).  The Senate group included 
Cristovam Buarque (PDT - Democratic Workers Party; left; 
government coalition; of the Federal District), Eduardo 
Suplicy (PT - Workers' Party; left; lead party in the 
government coalition; of Sao Paulo), Pedro Simon (PMDB - 
Brazilian Democratic Movement Party; non-ideological; 
government coalition; of Rio Grande do Sul), and Joao Pedro 
(PT; of Amazonas). 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Senator Simon objected to the fleet's 
re-establishment on a number of grounds.  He said he did not 
believe media reports linking the Fleet's re-establishment to 
the Brazil's recent discoveries of offshore oil reserves or 
that the U.S. has designs on the Amazon region, but demanded 
to know the rationale for the re-establishment's timing. 
Senator Simon said that President Bush, with only a few 
months remaining in his term of office, and low popularity 
ratings, had "no right" to reactivate the Fourth Fleet, and 
should have left such a decision to his successor.  He 
suggested that the Fleet represented a threat to Brazilian 
democracy, and recalled that published reports, including a 
book by former U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Lincoln Gordon, have 
stated that U.S. warships were off the Brazilian coast in 
1964 to assist the Brazilian military at the time of the coup 
d'etat had there been resistance from then-President Joao 
Goulart. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) After hearing Ambassador's explanation of the 
Fleet's purpose, Simon argued that humanitarian relief and 
disaster assistance tasks could be carried out without a 
fleet, and therefore the fleet was unnecessary.  Senator 
Suplicy asked whether the Fleet was coming to the Brazilian 
coast.  He acknowledged that U.S.-Brazilian bilateral 
relations are very good, and suggested that for that reason 
we would be able to have a dialogue even in a crisis.  Like 
Simon, he said the Fleet reminds Brazilians of the military 
regime, and said Brazilians want instead peaceful movements 
in keeping with the peaceful character of the region.  Simon 
predicted that if the re-establishment is not canceled, a 
movement in the hemisphere will grow against the Fourth Fleet. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Simon and Joao Pedro posed several specific 
questions about the Fleet, such as how many ships were in it, 
what is its purpose, and how many doctors are in the Fleet. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Ambassador Sobel stressed that no ships are 
assigned permanently to the Fleet, it is not being 
reactivated with an offensive purpose, and ships assigned to 
it would not come into Brazilian waters without Brazilian 
permission.  He noted that the Fleet's configurations vary 
according to the specific mission, and described the missions 
of the USNS Comfort that have provided medical services to 
tens of thousands of patients.  The Fleet will engage in 
joint training with other navies from the hemisphere, he 
said, and the U.S. has a long tradition of respecting other 
countries' territorial waters.  Mission will provide 
additional details about the Fourth Fleet in information 
packets to be presented to the Chairman of the Foreign 
 
BRASILIA 00001002  002 OF 002 
 
 
Relations and National Defense Committee. 
 
Mission Public Diplomacy 
 
¶7.  (U) Post has been conducting an information campaign on 
the Fourth Fleet: Information Officer gave an interview on 
the Fourth Fleet to the CBN radio network, and PAS placed an 
op-ed by the Ambassador in two national dailies and a letter 
from Southcom Commander Admiral James Stavridis in two other 
national dailies.  WHA A/S Thomas Shannon's remarks on the 
Fleet to the media in Sao Paulo got very favorable coverage 
in all major media on July 10.  PAS, the Foreign Press 
Center, and SouthCom PA organized a tour to the Fourth Fleet 
inauguration on July 12 that included Brazilian press. 
Mission issued a press release immediately after the 
senators' visit and able to ensure balance in media coverage 
of their meeting with the Ambassador, but more work is 
required to set the record straight on the Fourth Fleet. 
Mission will distribute information packets to media and 
leading political figures. 
 
Comment. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Without sufficient public information and private 
engagement from our side, misconceptions about the Fourth 
Fleet could fester and take hold.  Many Brazilians harbor 
suspicions about U.S. intentions in Brazil and the region, 
and the atmosphere is ripe for a new myth about U.S. plans. 
While the Vice President told us in private, and Navy 
Commander and Defense Minister said in public that they are 
not concerned about the Fourth Fleet, we need to continue 
engaging senior Brazilians, opinion leaders, and the media to 
dispel misconceptions. 
KUBISKE