VZCZCXRO6209
RR RUEHRG
DE RUEHSO #0055/01 0271641
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 271641Z JAN 09
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8897
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0052
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 4284
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 8996
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 3393
RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 3640
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 2839
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 2640
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ 4049
RUEHLU/AMEMBASSY LUANDA 0022
RUEHTO/AMEMBASSY MAPUTO 0153
RUEHLI/AMEMBASSY LISBON 0050
RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC
RUEHFSI/DIR FSINFATC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SAO PAULO 000055 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE PASS TO IIP/S/SV SAM WUNDER 
FSI FOR DAVID GALINDO 
MAPUTO FOR KRISTIN KANE 
LUANDA FOR ABBY DRESSEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EFIN EINV ETRD KPAO BR
SUBJECT: SOFT POWER GOLD: PRESIDENT OBAMA INSPIRES AFRO-BRAZILIANS 
IN SAO PAULO 
 
REF: 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED--PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary:  Sao Paulo's leading Afro-Brazilians organized a 
packed (300-plus person) dinner event attended by the community's 
leading figures, from celebrities to successful business persons, to 
celebrate President Barack Obama's inauguration on January 20.  The 
atmosphere was euphoric.  The event's main organizer invited Poloff 
to give the keynote, an illustrative PowerPoint presentation that 
combined U.S. History with a detailed biography of the President, 
showing how a multicultural society has produced a multicultural 
President. The presentation was well received and post envisions 
using it, and other materials, as part of a wider outreach effort to 
introduce the new Administration and President Obama to other 
segments of Brazilian society.  In addition, this presentation gives 
us yet another way in which to build upon the on-going dialogue on 
race that is an integral part of the Brazil-U.S. Joint Action Plan 
Against Racism.  Where Brazil is concerned, the new President's 
story, combined with American History, is soft power gold.  End 
Summary. 
 
Sao Paulo's Afro-Brazilians Celebrate Obama 
 
¶2.  (U) Sao Paulo's Afro-Brazilian leaders organized a packed formal 
dinner held at a downtown mansion to recognize the U.S. President's 
inauguration on January 20.  The celebration was organized by RACA 
("Race") Magazine, a publication aimed at Afro-Brazilian 
professionals; Grupo Integracao (Integration Group), an 
Afro-Brazilian NGO; and Pestana Art and Publications (a business run 
by Afro-Brazilian artist and Consulate contact Mauricio Pestana). 
Pestana took the lead in putting together the event.  He told 
Poloffs that when he started work on the project just one week 
before, he had planned for 30-40 persons, but the gathering quickly 
mushroomed into something much bigger.  By the time it was held, the 
event had become a sold-out gala for over 300 persons. 
 
A Wide-Ranging Crowd: From Community Leaders... 
 
¶3.  (U) The crowd was made up for the most part of various elements 
of the commercial, cultural and political leadership of Sao Paulo's 
Afro-Brazilian community, including some who flew in from Brasilia 
to participate.  Among luminaries present were entertainment 
personalities (Brazilian TV star Adriana Lessa), politicians 
(including the third largest vote-getter in the recent Sao Paulo 
municipal elections, Netino de Paula, who has been a singer and TV 
star and is now a city councilman for the PCdoB, the Brazilian 
Communist Party), and a host of professional, government and 
business persons.  The group's impressive credentials made clear 
that Sao Paulo's Afro-Brazilian community has developed a leadership 
with strong representation in a wide variety of key sectors. 
 
...To Common Folk 
 
¶4.  (U) While the Afro-Brazilian event took place in luxurious 
circumstances, it was not an exclusive event.  Prior radio 
announcements had made the Afro-Brazilian public aware of the 
gathering and a distinct minority who attended were not the rich and 
the famous, but rather working folks and elderly people, including a 
bus driver and two grandmothers.  In many ways, these participants 
proved to be the most revealing sources in conversations with 
Consulate Officers. 
 
Crowd Comments: "I'm Here to Celebrate My Son" 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The Afro-Brazilians proved to be an excellent source for 
sampling attitudes about the U.S. and about Afro-Brazilians' 
perception of their social position.  While the atmosphere was 
almost uniformly euphoric, several comments stood out for their 
insights: 
 
--President Obama's election inspired many participants to ask when 
Brazil might follow the U.S. in electing an Afro-descended 
 
SAO PAULO 00000055  002 OF 003 
 
 
President.  One refrain heard frequently was: "The U.S. has far 
fewer Afro-descendants than Brazil, where we are fifty percent of 
the population.  When will we have our Obama?" 
 
--Communist Party City Council member Netinho de Paula attempted to 
answer this question in his remarks.  He spoke positively of both 
Obama and the U.S. public, reminding the crowd that Obama's victory, 
while that of an African American, was only made possible by the 
President's ability to reach out to white voters.  (Comment:  De 
Paula appeared to be saying that Afro-Brazilians need to broaden 
their leadership style to prosper politically.  PCdoB Councilman De 
Paula is a proven vote-getter with evident public speaking skills 
and a possible high profile future role in politics.  End Comment.) 
 
 
--Antonia, a retired secretary in her 70s, told Conoff, "I am here 
to celebrate my son." 
 
--Many felt bolstered in their confidence that an Afro-Brazilian 
will one day become President of Brazil.  Several expressed 
confidence that U.S.-Brazilian relations would prosper under the 
Obama Presidency. 
 
Joy Tempered by Internal Divisions 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Despite the joy for Obama, participants noted latent 
divisions among Afro-Brazilians. 
 
--When Poloff mentioned to Mauricio Pestana that he would work with 
the Afro-Brazilians to develop courses on Afro-American History for 
a university like Universidade da Cidadania Zumbi dos Palmares, an 
Afro-inspired university here in Sao Paulo, Pestana warned Poloff 
not to cite that university, since some in the crowd believed its 
leadership was too closed.  (Note: Consulate works closely with 
Zumbi dos Palmares, which hosted BSC visitors related to the 
Brazil-U.S. Joint Action Plan Against Racism last September.  We 
have not had problems with the school's operating style.  End Note.) 
 
 
--A bus driver who attended told Conoff that it would take a long 
time for Afro-Brazilians to elect one of their own President 
because, "We don't support each other."  One Senhora Concecao 
complained that even when Afro-Brazilians elect one of their own, 
people like Celso Pitta and Benedita da Silva, the elected leaders 
often do not hold up their end of the bargain.  (Note: Pitta was the 
first Afro-Brazilian Mayor of Sao Paulo and da Silva was the first 
Afro-Brazilian Senator.  Pitta was forced to resign due to a 
corruption scandal and da Silva has also been embroiled in alleged 
ethical difficulties.  End Note.) 
 
Obama Presentation 
 
¶7.  (U) Poloff delivered a PowerPoint presentation that combined a 
review of the United States emergence as an ever-more multicultural 
society, starting with the lamentable period of slavery in the US 
through the Civil Rights movement and up to the election of 
President Obama.  Based in part on a close reading of President 
Obama's autobiography, "Dreams of My Father", the talk showcased how 
the diversity of the President's background prepared him to lead a 
diverse nation.  The crowd reacted positively to the presentation, 
which Consulate had road-tested in December.  Those who heard the 
talk praised it and recommended it for civil society groups and for 
universities and schools once the academic year begins again in 
February. 
 
Comment: Soft Power Gold for a Key Group 
 
¶8.  (SBU) President Obama's story, when woven into the larger story 
of race relations and emerging diversity in the U.S., becomes soft 
power gold for a multiethnic, developing country like Brazil, which 
is struggling with issues of social inclusion.  Post is continuing 
to refine its outreach strategy and presentations and plans to 
deploy this presentation in schools, binational centers, and civil 
 
SAO PAULO 00000055  003 OF 003 
 
 
society.  Particularly now, during the presidential honeymoon 
period, we have a unique window of opportunity to widen contacts 
with a positive message about democracy, diversity and change, one 
that, so far, has road-tested well.  In addition, the President's 
story naturally lends itself to furthering our work on the 
Brazil-U.S. Joint Action Plan Against Racism. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Sao Paulo's Afro-Brazilian community demonstrates both 
dynamism and division.  On the one hand, the January 20 gathering 
showed how quickly the community could pull together a major event, 
how prosperous and well-known some of its leaders have become, and 
how committed they were to keeping the door open to participation by 
less privileged Afro-Brazilians.  On the other, Brazil's 
Afro-Brazilians have difficulty developing spokespersons or 
institutions that enjoy across-the-board support.  City Council 
member Netinho de Paula emphasized how President Obama's example 
might apply to this challenge when he reminded the audience that it 
was precisely candidate Obama's ability to reach beyond 
African-Americans that enabled his political success. 
 
¶10.  (U) This cable was coordinated/cleared by Embassy Brasilia. 
 
WHITE