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DE RUEHBR #1036/01 2101135
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 281135Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2184
INFO RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 BRASILIA 001036 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR USOAS AND WHA/EPSC 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/25/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECIN EAGR ENRG SENV KSUM XM HA TD
CU, BR, OAS 
SUBJECT: USOAS AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH BRAZILIAN AUTHORITIES 
ON 2009 SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS PREPARATIONS 
 
REF: A. PORT OF SPAIN 290 
     ¶B. PORT OF SPAIN 288 
 
Classified By: Charge Lisa Kubiske, reasons 1.4 b and d 
 
¶1. (C) Summary.  Brazil's coordinator for the Fifth Summit of 
the Americas (SOA) told visiting USOAS Ambassador Hector 
Morales that the Concept Paper provides ample scope for 
cooperation and the proposed three pillars are very 
pertinent.  Brazil broadly shares U.S. objectives for the 
SOA, although its focus will be on social issues.  Brazil 
would like to see a discussion of food security that includes 
complementary emergency and structural measures such as 
purchasing local food stuffs from household agriculture 
(family farms), guaranteed by crop insurance, for application 
in school feeding programs.  On energy, Brazilian officials 
want to share information at the Summit about work under our 
biofuels MOU, and recommended the U.S. be subtle in our 
promotion of biofuels at the Summit.  They predicted that 
biofuels will not be a contentious issue, although it should 
not dominate the rest of the Summit energy agenda.  Regarding 
Cuba participating in the next Summit, Brazilian officials 
were unaware of any effort to invite Cuba, and Brazil will 
continue to support the 2001 Quebec Declaration, which would 
rule out any invitation to Cuba to the Fifth SOA.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU)  USOAS Ambassador Hector Morales, USG coordinator 
for the April 2009 Summit of the Americas (SOA) in Trinidad 
and Tobago (T&T), exchanged views on the SOA in meetings with 
the private sector in Sao Paulo on July 7 and at the 
Brazilian Ministry of External Relations (MRE) on July 8.  In 
Sao Paulo he held a roundtable discussion with prominent 
international affairs experts and with the Sao Paulo 
Federation of Industries (FIESP).  On the government side he 
met separately at the MRE with: 1) Minister Carlos Duarte, 
Brazilian SOA coordinator and director of the International 
Organizations Department; 2) Counselor Milton Rondo, general 
coordinator of International Action Against Hunger; and 3) 
Minister Andre Aranha Correa do Lago, director of the Energy 
Department. 
 
---- 
Cuba 
---- 
 
¶3. (C)  Ambassador Morales asked Duarte whether he had heard 
that some in the region might be considering the possibility 
of inviting Cuba to the SOA (reftels), and asked what 
Brazil's position would be.  Duarte replied he was unaware of 
any effort to invite Cuba to the SOA, and Brazil will 
continue to support the 2001 Quebec Declaration, which would 
rule out any invitation to Cuba to the Fifth SOA.  Ambassador 
Sergio Amaral - retired career diplomat and former Minister 
of Development, Industry and Trade - told Ambassador Morales 
that in order to make the Summit relevant it would be 
necessary to bring a fresh new approach, including the 
possible addition of Cuba into the process.  At the same 
meeting with Ambassador Amaral, Ambassador Rubens Barbosa 
also raised this point.  Amaral also recognized, however, 
that given that the Summit will take place so soon after the 
inauguration of the new administration that it is unlikely 
that major changes on Cuba policy will be feasible in time 
for the Summit. 
 
------------- 
Concept Paper 
------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Carlos Duarte, Brazil's SOA coordinator, told 
Ambassador Morales that the Concept Paper and the draft 
Declaration of Commitment that have been circulated are "very 
pertinent," correspond to issues that are on the region's 
agenda, and provide ample room for cooperation. 
 
----------- 
Environment 
----------- 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Duarte agreed with Ambassador Morales that the 
environment is a global issue and the SOA does not take place 
in a vacuum, and Brazil does not want to introduce 
contentious issues into the SOA that are already being 
discussed globally.  Georges Landau, consultant on energy and 
international affairs, argued that Brazil's track record on 
the environment has been bleak, failing to reach its own 
domestic benchmarks and deforesting in 2007 a territory 
equivalent in size to Haiti. 
 
 
BRASILIA 00001036  002 OF 005 
 
 
---------------- 
Human prosperity 
---------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU)  Duarte noted that human prosperity is very much on 
Brazil's agenda, Brazil strongly supports this pillar, and 
said the USG's "sensitivity on this would be welcome in the 
region." Amaral highlighted that the Summit should take into 
account the important role of emerging social movements in 
the region coupled with the inability of traditional 
political parties to absorb these movements in many 
countries.  Amaral said that the poorer segments of society 
in Latin America have become empowered, and this necessarily 
affects how foreign policy is conducted.  Barbosa agreed, 
noting that true democracy has arrived in full force in 
Brazil and elsewhere, as manifested in the rise of indigenous 
groups.  Barbosa said that this has caused consternation 
among the traditional ruling classes. 
 
------------- 
Food Security 
------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU)  Milton Rondo, general coordinator for International 
Action Against Hunger, told Ambassador Morales that Brazil is 
pleased to see so many paragraphs on social issues in the 
Concept Paper.  Brazil favors a double track approach to food 
security, he explained, in which emergency measures and 
structural measures work together for greater effectiveness. 
He pointed to the example of Haiti, where in addition to 
emergency measures such as school feeding programs to provide 
immediate relief, Brazil promotes structural remedies such as 
supporting sustainable agricultural practices and 
agro-biological fertilizers, buying food stocks from local 
family farms, and seed banks to reproduce seeds locally. 
Rondo said in Haiti, Brazil is considering creating a council 
for discussion with local citizens that would have the 
benefit of bringing many away from street protests and into 
constructive dialogue. 
 
¶8. (SBU)  Rondo said World Bank President Robert Zoellick's 
ten point program was very good, and Brazil is thinking of 
similar "pillar programs."  He said Brazil wants to work with 
Haiti on that as well as on household agriculture, and in 
that regard will buy local foodstuffs for the school feeding 
program, an approach that Brazil would like to see reflected 
in the SOA text.  He added that Brazil does this at home as 
well, donating locally purchased food to poor communities, 
landless peasants, and others. 
 
¶9. (SBU)  With regard to other areas of the upcoming Madrid 
meeting that Brazil would emphasize, Rondo identified 
sustainability and emergency operations as top Brazilian 
concerns.  He said Brazil also supports crop insurance 
programs, and pointed to the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights in article 25, item one, which, in his view, means 
governments must provide assistance to their citizens during 
poor harvests if it is not of the farmers' own doing. 
 
¶10. (SBU)  Rondo also discussed briefly the Brazilian 
"Territories of Citizenship program," which builds local 
interconnections through installation of bio-digesters, 
cisterns, and other resources in public places available to, 
for example, sustainable rice farmers.  Farm machinery is 
available through extension of micro-credits.  He said Brazil 
is trying this out in Haiti as well. 
 
¶11. (SBU)  He said President Lula believes in both food 
security and energy security, and Lula told FAO 
Director-General Jacques Diouf that the FAO should study the 
impact of biofuels on food security.  He said the main issue 
for Madrid is coordination, not pledges. 
 
------ 
Energy 
------ 
 
¶12. (SBU) In the meeting with Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
Director for Energy Issues, Andre Correa Do Lago, Ambassador 
Morales stressed U.S. interest in maintaining solidarity with 
Brazil at the summit on biofuels issues.  Do Lago agreed and 
suggested that given growing concern over the rising cost of 
gas and oil, biofuels was likely to be a primary focus.  Do 
Lago concurred that the Summit might be an opportunity to 
share information on the work that has been done under our 
biofuels MOU but suggested that at the Summit, the third 
countries that benefited from our joint assistance in 
feasibility studies, should make presentations on their 
experience.  He stressed that given innate suspicions among 
 
BRASILIA 00001036  003 OF 005 
 
 
smaller countries when the U.S. and Brazil work together, we 
should be subtle in our promotion of biofuels at the Summit. 
 
¶13. (SBU) On the biofuels v. food debate, Duarte said, "it 
will be hard to convince Brazilians that biofuels have 
increased food prices" because this has not been Brazil's 
experience.  He predicted that biofuels will not necessarily 
be a contentious issue in the region. 
 
¶14. (SBU) Do Lago, and Daniel Lins, officer in charge of 
UNISUL energy negotiations, noted that there is already some 
entrenched opposition to biofuels in the hemisphere, citing 
what they called the ideological opposition of Bolivia,s Evo 
Morales to biofuels.  (Note: commercial gas interests may 
play into this ideology as well.  End Note.)  In the energy 
working group negotiations in the evolving South American 
association, UNISUL, Bolivia has taken a reservation to the 
biofuels section and may be expected to resist efforts to 
support a positive stance on biofuels, likely along with 
Venezuela.  Pointing to the success of Chavez's petro 
diplomacy with programs like PetroCaribe, Lins warned that we 
should not underestimate Venezuela,s influence on energy 
topics in the region.  On a brighter note, Lin mentioned that 
due to Venezuela,s political inability to raise oil prices 
domestically, Chavez is now expressing interest in energy 
efficiency, a potential point of agreement between the U.S. 
and Venezuela. 
 
¶15. (SBU) Do Lago and Lins voiced Brazil,s concern that 
discussions of energy efficiency not dominate the rest of the 
Summit energy agenda. However, reflecting the varying 
circumstances of nations in the hemisphere, the need for 
access to energy in many countries should also be addressed. 
 Do Lago pointed out that bioelectricity production from 
bagasse holds great potential in opening access to energy in 
low income countries.  Morales took note of the position but 
expressed caution that any group beyond individual countries 
would be in a position to address access to energy and that 
access to energy depended further on regulatory and legal 
frameworks that promoted private sector investment.  He 
promised to deliver the message to Washington and take the 
issue under consideration. Do Lago suggested that we exchange 
views bilaterally on the proposed declaration in advance of a 
September meeting in Barbados. 
 
------------------ 
Trade & Investment 
------------------ 
 
¶16. (SBU)  Trade and investment figured prominently in the 
roundtable discussion with Sergio Amaral, Rubens Barbosa 
(former Ambassador to the U.S.) and Georges Landau.  Barbosa 
was pleased that trade is not overtly on the Summit agenda, 
although noted the synergies with human prosperity.  Landau 
was of the opinion that trade has to be dealt with in some 
fashion, despite the fact that consensus on the issue is 
difficult.  Barbosa and Amaral both emphasized that the FTAA 
is not the right approach to pursue. Ambassador Clifford 
Sobel clarified that the United States is interested in 
pursuing a different kind of trade agenda in the region 
focused on trade facilitation, regional integration, and 
infrastructure development.  Ambassador Sobel said that the 
Mission will work hard to put infrastructure and regional 
integration on the agenda of the next Administration. 
Barbosa agreed that this type of discussion could be 
fruitful, but cautioned to focus on promises that could be 
delivered.  Ambassador Morales noted that it was a strategic 
decision to deal with trade under the human prosperity pillar 
and noted the intention to focus on integration, 
competitiveness, and the role of improved health and 
education to furthering human prosperity.  Ambassador Morales 
also noted that it was critical to the success of the Summit 
to include private sector participation. 
 
-------------- 
Implementation 
-------------- 
 
¶17. (SBU)  While implementation has become something of an 
issue, Duarte said, the tendency is to include it in 
documents to give a sense that previous mandates are being 
implemented and things do not occur in a vacuum.  Brazil will 
support a focus on implementation, and shares with some 
others a concern about efficiency in implementation.  He said 
the continuation of the process is "to engage in a more 
focused way" on the basis of the Concept Paper and see what 
difficulties arise along the way. 
 
¶18. (SBU)  Duarte said he will miss the next Summit 
 
BRASILIA 00001036  004 OF 005 
 
 
Implementation Review Group (SIRG) meeting on July 24 and 
views it as mainly an opportunity for participants to get 
acquainted and receive the Declaration of Commitment, while 
the "real negotiations begin in Barbados."  Duarte and 
Ambassador Morales agreed to begin discussions between the US 
and Brazilians teams at the next SIRG (July 24). 
 
--------- 
Logistics 
--------- 
 
¶19. (SBU)  Duarte professed ignorance of any logistical 
difficulties in Port of Spain but offered Brazil's help if 
needed.  He mentioned that on July 23 T&T PM Manning will 
visit Brasilia and Brazil might raise logistics with him. 
 
---------------------- 
Role of Private Sector 
---------------------- 
 
¶20. (SBU)  In the meeting with FIESP's President Paulo Skaf, 
Ambassador Morales expressed the USG's intention to enhance 
the role of the private sector in the Summit.  Whereas in 
previous summits the private sector held parallel meetings, 
Morales expressed his hope that the agenda would include an 
opportunity for joint meetings with the heads of state.  Skaf 
was receptive to this idea and said that FIESP could consider 
organizing a pre-Summit preparatory meeting with private 
sector leaders from key countries. Skaf designated Barbosa, 
who participated in the meeting as head of FIESP's 
international trade council, to continue to engage with the 
USG as the private sector role materializes. 
 
¶21. (SBU)  With regards to topics, Morales said that this is 
still in the planning stages, but eventual themes might look 
at lessons learned and keys to successful investments.  FIESP 
offered their expertise on issues ranging from energy to the 
environment.  FIESP also committed to engage the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs on Summit preparation. 
 
--------------------------- 
Shifting Regional Paradigm? 
--------------------------- 
 
¶22. (SBU)  Amaral encouraged the USG to understand that this 
Summit will take place in the context of new regional 
realities.  He said that the U.S. is no longer as powerful as 
it once was vis-a-vis South America.  He argued that because 
of this shifting paradigm, U.S.-Latin America relations are 
more important now than in the past because there is room for 
a new approach to emerge.  He said that the U.S. no longer is 
in the region to dictate or solve problems and therefore it 
is a good moment to work together on issues of mutual 
interest.  He expressed optimism for the future of U.S.-Latin 
America relations, noting his belief that only the U.S. can 
push forward a progressive agenda for global affairs. 
 
¶23. (SBU)  Amaral was also of the opinion that the region's 
diversity has of late gained strength.  He said that because 
of this it is no longer possible to consider a single unified 
agenda for the Americas, as may have been the case in past 
decades.  He said that any new agenda must take into account 
this diversity.  Barbosa echoed this sentiment in 
distinguishing the separate realities of Central America, 
Mexico, and the Caribbean versus South America.  Whereas the 
former is still very dependent on the U.S., the latter is 
increasingly looking elsewhere for economic opportunities and 
political partnerships. 
 
-------------- 
Summit Fatigue 
-------------- 
 
¶24. (SBU) Barbosa, Amaral, and Landau were of the opinion 
that Summit coordinators are facing an uphill battle when it 
comes to making the 2009 Summit successful. In addition to 
the unpleasant memories that still persist of the last Summit 
in Mar del Plata, the international arena is suffering from 
"summit fatigue."  Amaral said that if this Summit follows in 
the footsteps of its predecessors, it will not be successful. 
 He also said that the role of governments in pursuing closer 
ties in the Americas is decreasing, largely due to the 
ever-expanding and deepening relationship at the society 
level.  In this context, Amaral said that summits are 
increasingly irrelevant.  Ambassador Morales recognized the 
fatigue, but highlighted that while there are many 
sub-regional meetings, this is the only forum where the 
leaders of the 34 democracies can convene for furthering the 
inter-American agenda.  The Brazilians agree, however, that 
 
BRASILIA 00001036  005 OF 005 
 
 
the Summit would be an excellent opportunity for the next 
president to express his views towards the region, and they 
would look forward to hearing his ideas. 
 
¶25. (U) This cable was jointly written by Embassy Brasilia 
and Consulate-General Sao Paulo and has been cleared with 
Ambassador Hector Morales. 
KUBISKE