VZCZCXRO5191
RR RUEHRG
DE RUEHBR #1282/01 3032018
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 302018Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5310
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 0043
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 6403
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 0003
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA 0003
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 0011
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 0063
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 0026
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 8329

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRASILIA 001282 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR S/CT SHARI VILLAROSA AND WHA. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PINR BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL: ILLICIT FINANCE CONFERENCE USES THE "T" 
WORD, SUCCESSFULLY 
 
REF: BRASILIA 01684 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: An S/CT funded regional conference 
entitled "Illicit Financial Crimes" held in Rio de Janeiro 
during October 4-9, 2009, successfully brought together 
representatives from Brazil,s federal and state law 
enforcement community and countries from throughout Latin 
America.  The week-long conference was praised in written 
evaluations by the participants, with many asking for more 
training, including specific training on combating terrorism. 
 This direct request differs from previous Brazilian requests 
which have historically avoided any training that referenced 
terrorism, instead preferring more generic terms such as 
"transnational crimes." In addition, participants universally 
praised the fact that the training was multijurisdictional, 
practical, and included actual demonstrations (such as how to 
prepare a witness to testify, and the direct examination of 
witnesses).   Future training should build on areas like 
illicit finance task forces, which may prove the best way to 
combat terrorism in Brazil.  End Summary. 
 
PROJETO PONTES: BUILDING BRIDGES TO BRAZILIAN LAW ENFORCEMENT 
 
¶2.  (U) Post recently concluded a successful conference on 
Illicit Finance Oct 4-9 (reftel), held in the regional 
capital of Rio de Janeiro and funded by State,s Coordinator 
for Counter Terrorism (S/CT).  This is the first regional 
conference conducted under post,s Projeto PONTES 
(Translation: Bridges Project) umbrella, a new training 
concept post introduced in February 2009 to consolidate 
bi-lateral law enforcement training.  Training conducted 
under Projeto PONTES is unique in several ways: presentations 
focus on both Brazilian and U.S. best practices; the 
participants include, in the same venue, judges, prosecutors, 
and law enforcement; the topics are agreed upon by both 
Brazilian and U.S. counterparts; and the presentations are 
geared towards practical skills, not theory. 
 
¶3.  (U) Post,s Resident Legal Advisor (RLA) and Legal 
Attach (LEGAT) closely followed the Projeto PONTES framework 
when developing the conference agenda and the list of 
participants.  Federal judges and prosecutors from each of 
Brazil,s 26 states and a federal district took part, and 
over 50 federal police agents (from throughout Brazil) 
participated.  State-level participation was also solicited, 
and 30 state prosecutors, judges, and law enforcement 
attended.  In addition to the large Brazilian delegation, 
post strived to meet S/CT,s regional focus by inviting 
representatives from Mexico, Costa Rico, Panama, Argentina, 
Uruguay, and Paraguay. 
 
TERRORISM BROUGHT TO THE FOREFRONT 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism in S/CT, 
Shari Villarosa, opened the conference with a keynote address 
on Illicit Finance and Terrorism.  In most of post,s 
planning with its Brazilian counterparts, the traditional 
mantra has been to avoid using the word "Terrorism" and 
instead use the less controversial term "Transnational Crime" 
as a euphemism for all activity that involves organized 
violence and threats.   However, in her opening remarks, 
Deputy Coordinator Villarosa spoke directly about terrorism 
and the illicit financing of terrorism, emphasizing that 
illicit finance is a global problem and needs to be addressed 
in a global manner. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Rather than challenging these assertions as often 
happens when dealing with Brazil,s Foreign Ministry or 
members of the Executive Branch, the judicial sector 
representatives at the conference found the topic to be 
extremely interesting and important.  In post-conference 
evaluations, the most frequently requested follow-on training 
was related to counterterrorism, clearly demonstrating that 
the federal judges, prosecutors, and other law enforcement 
professionals were less concerned with the political 
minefield around the term and genuinely interested in 
learning how to better engage the judicial process in the 
fight against terrorism. 
 
¶6.  (U) Following the keynote address, the conference 
preceded with a presentation by Brazilian Judicial Minister 
 
BRASILIA 00001282  002 OF 003 
 
 
Gilson Dipp, who provided an overview of the legislative and 
political history of Brazil,s money laundering and illicit 
activity legislation.  Brazilian Federal Money Laundering 
Judge Sergio Moro then discussed the 15 most common issues he 
sees in money laundering cases in the Brazilian Courts.  U.S. 
presenters discussed various aspects regarding the 
investigation  and prosecution of illicit finance and  money 
laundering cases, including formal and informal international 
cooperation, asset forfeiture,  methods of proof, pyramid 
schemes, plea bargaining, use of direct examination as a 
tool, and suggestions on how to deal with Non-Governmental 
Organizations (NGO,s) suspected of being used for illicit 
financing. In addition, a mock witness preparation and direct 
examination was presented.  At the end of each day, an hour 
was set aside for all the presenters to answer any additional 
questions and allow the participants to raise additional 
topics.  This part of the conference was always lively, and 
resulted in discussions of myriad topics as well as 
suggestions from the Brazilians on how to work better with 
the U.S. 
 
RESULTS: PRACTICAL TECHNIQUES USEFUL 
 
¶7.  (U) The participants praised the hands on training, and 
requested additional training on the collection of evidence, 
interrogation and interviewing, court room skills, and the 
task force model.  The participants also lauded the quality 
of the presentations and singled out the mock direct 
examination of a witness as a high point in the conference. 
They emphasized the importance of discussing practical 
investigative and trial techniques, and the demonstration of 
concrete examples of cooperation between law enforcement and 
prosecutors.  Finally, many commented that they wanted to 
learn more about the proactive task force model, develop 
better cooperation between prosecutors and law enforcement, 
and gain direct experience in working on long term complex 
financial cases. 
 
¶8.  (U) Brazilian participants sought out the RLA and the 
LEGAT throughout the conference to discuss how to improve 
Brazil,s legal system, especially in the area of complex 
financial investigations and prosecutions.  The Brazilians 
explained that Brazil,s democracy is barely 20 years old; 
therefore, Brazilian federal judges, prosecutors, and law 
enforcement are new to the democratic process and have not 
been trained in the basics of long term investigations, 
proactive task forces, and the successful use of courtroom 
advocacy.  In addition, they find themselves unable to 
effectively use their new criminal code, as several recent 
changes have completely altered the manner in which evidence 
is presented in court.  For example, the RLA successfully 
advocated for recent changes to the Brazilian criminal 
procedure code, which requires direct examination of 
witnesses by the prosecution and the defense, rather than by 
the judge, and uses live testimony instead of written 
affidavits.  Many Brazilians, however, confessed that they do 
not know how to use these new tools but are eager to learn. 
 
FUTURE TRAINING: ILLICIT FINANCE TASK FORCE 
 
¶9. (U) The conference clearly demonstrated that the Brazilian 
judicial sector is very interested in engaging more 
proactively in the fight against terrorism, but needs the 
tools and training to effectively engage.  Currently, the 
most effective approach to incarcerating a terrorist suspect 
is to try him on a predicate crime, such as drug trafficking 
or money laundering.  Indeed, many of the Brazilian 
conference participants practice exclusively in Brazil,s 
Federal Money Laundering Courts established in 1998 in 
conjunction with a money laundering law.  Specialized 
prosecutors and investigators bring their money laundering 
cases to these courts, which have been more effective than 
most and have handled some of Brazil,s most significant 
cases involving corruption and high level individuals. 
 
¶10. (U) Consequently, there is a continual need to provide 
hands-on training to Brazilian federal and state judges, 
prosecutors, and law enforcement regarding the illicit 
financing of criminal conduct.  There is a nexus between 
illicit money flows and terrorist financing, and the 
specialized money laundering courts have proven to be an 
 
BRASILIA 00001282  003 OF 003 
 
 
effective method of prosecuting criminals.  Ideally, the 
training should be longer-term and coincide with the 
formation of training task forces.   Two large urban centers 
with proven judicial support for illicit financing cases, in 
particular Sao Paulo, Campo Grande, or Curitiba, should be 
selected as the location for this type of training.  Then 
task forces can be formed, and an actual investigation used 
as the basis for training that would sequentially progress 
from investigation through the courtroom presentation and 
conclusion of the case.  This would give the Brazilians 
actual experience in working on a long term proactive illicit 
financing task force, and allow access to U.S. experts for 
on-going guidance and support.   Post can provide more 
detailed steps and a cost analysis septel. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Comment.  Overall, the conference was a success, 
not only for convoking a significant number of Brazilian and 
regional law enforcement professionals to share best 
practices on investigating and prosecuting illicit crimes, 
but also to recognize that the term terrorism is not taboo to 
the professionals who need to prepare for the worst.  Post,s 
Projeto PONTES will continue to bring together U.S. and 
Brazilian law enforcement in different venues, to build on 
our relationships and exchange best practices.  For 
counterterrorism efforts, we hope to use the opening this 
conference has provided to target illicit finance task force 
training in a major urban center.  End Comment. 
KUBISKE