VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBR #0053/01 0491756
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 181756Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0499
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRASILIA 000053 
 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR HAITI TASK FORCE, WHA, USAID 
AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PASS TO AMCONSUL RECIFE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/18 
TAGS: EAID PREL MASS BR HA
SUBJECT: BRAZIL: UPDATE ON EFFORTS AND FUTURE PLANS IN HAITI 
 
REF: 10 BRASILIA 44; 10 BRASILIA 19; 10 STATE 12558 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Lisa Kubiske, DCM, State; REASON: 1.4(B), (D) 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Brazilian Foreign Ministry (Itamaraty) officials 
coordinating Brazil's post-earthquake assistance to Haiti listed 
for PolOffs Brazil's humanitarian donations, gave an update on 
February 8 on the deployment of Brazilian troops to Haiti, and laid 
out Brazil's plan for transitioning its assistance from emergency 
relief to reconstruction. Itamaraty officials agreed that U.S. and 
Brazilian troops in Haiti had formed a strong partnership in their 
efforts on the ground and are eager to increase the dialog between 
Brasilia and Washington to map out the next steps of assistance to 
Haiti. End summary. 
 
 
 
---------------------------- 
 
BRAZILIAN ASSISTANCE TO HAITI 
 
---------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) PolCouns and PolOff met February 8 with Brazilian Ministry 
of External Relations' (MRE, also called Itamaraty) head of the 
Department of Central America and the Caribbean Minister Rubens 
Gama, head of Inter-American Division Carlos Luis Coutinho Perez, 
and officials from the Department of North American Affairs and the 
Market Access Division to discuss Brazilian assistance to Haiti. 
Gama explained that the crisis cabinet created by President Lula 
following the earthquake in Haiti, under the direction of 
Institutional Security Office (GSI)  Minister General Jorge Felix, 
continues to coordinate the efforts of all federal agencies 
involved in providing relief assistance to Haiti. Gama highlighted 
the Brazilian Air Force's three daily humanitarian flights into 
Haiti that have allowed Brazil to donate approximately 500 tons of 
goods, via 70 flights.  The donations included 130 tons of 
medication, and over 1,000 Haitians have been brought to Brazil for 
assistance (Ref A, B). 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Brazilian military set up a temporary hospital in 
Haiti that has attended to 3,900 emergency cases, including 
surgeries. Gama explained that the Brazilian military has plans to 
keep the hospital running for another two months. Gama confirmed 
that the 900 troops promised by Brazil would start to make their 
way to Haiti on February 10; he estimated it would take about 10 
days for all of the soldiers to reach Haiti. All of the Brazilian 
soldiers have previously served in Haiti and therefore know the lay 
of the land. Gama said Brazil still hopes to send another 
additional 400 soldiers to Haiti.  However, one of the main 
obstacles is providing the infrastructure all these soldiers will 
need in Haiti, including shelter, food, and water (Ref. B, C). 
 
 
 
---------------------------- 
 
LOOKING TO TRANSITION FROM RELIEF TO RECONSTRUCTION 
 
---------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶4. (C) Gama said that the Brazilian government is now thinking 
about its future efforts in Haiti, which will be focused on 
reconstruction. According to Gama, the emergency phase of 
assistance has now passed and the biggest problem is reconstructing 
Haiti when it lacks any semblance of the infrastructure needed to 
execute such efforts.  Gama noted that Brazil needs to purchase 
land for hospitals and buildings and negotiate contracts with the 
government and private firms, none of which can be done with the 
current lack of infrastructure in Haiti.  Gama also noted that 
slots for flights into Haiti are still very difficult to obtain and 
that Brazil needs more than the three flight slots it currently 
has, especially when flying in government officials who need to 
evaluate Brazil's efforts in Haiti. (DAO comment: Brazil has 
cancelled more slots than any other Haiti airport user. DAO 
assesses that, even if Brazil had more slots per day, it would only 
have the resources to use only three to four slots per day in a 
best case scenario.  When Brazil flies government officials into 
 
Haiti, it does so on passenger planes that do not carry with them 
humanitarian assistance.  End DAO comment.)  Gama said that, for 
now, the Brazilian government is operating with the knowledge and 
infrastructure of the Brazilian soldiers in the UN Stabilization 
Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) because they had food and assistance 
distribution methods set up even before the earthquake. Gama 
stressed that in moving from the relief to the reconstruction 
phase, the Haitian government needs to provide the international 
community with its priorities.  Following the meeting, Gama 
confirmed to PolOff that March 31 is Brazil's preferred date for 
the Haiti donors conference, not only because of conflicts in 
April, but also because they "think this conference should be held 
as soon as possible." 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) Gama confirmed that Brazilian President Lula will be 
traveling to Haiti on February 25, staying only five hours. Gama 
speculated that during the short visit Lula will fly in one of the 
Brazilian helicopters being used for humanitarian assistance in 
Haiti, visit with Brazilian troops, and have lunch with the Haitian 
government. Gama noted that Lula already had a trip to the 
Caribbean planned and that he added Haiti to the plans following 
the earthquake. 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Gama also clarified what has been labeled in the Brazilian 
press as the Lula government's "Bolsa Haiti."  Brasilia has 
brainstormed and proposed a number of projects to assist Haiti in 
its reconstruction efforts and the press lumped all of these 
together and labeled it "Bolsa Haiti" and even "Plano Lula," which 
he explained was not the government's doing.  (Comment: It was 
actually FM Amorim who, in a press conference, suggested that Haiti 
need a "Lula Plan," rather than a "Marshall Plan."  End comment.) 
The main concerns driving these proposals are unemployment, lack of 
security, and infrastructure left by the earthquake. Providing aid 
does not help Haiti get back on its feet, Gama explained, and 
Brazil is looking for ways to create work and restart the economy 
in Haiti. According to Gama, those who left Haiti-including the 
Haitians and U.N. officials-need to return to rebuild the country. 
Gama said that Brazil still plans to reduce trade barriers with 
Haiti to help facilitate the creation of a Haitian economy. 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) Perez said Brazil believes that the Organization of 
American States (OAS) mission in Haiti of institutional capacity 
building is even more important now following the earthquake. He 
believed that the OAS will have a greater role in Haiti when the 
focus turns to long-term planning for the country. Perez admitted 
that the OAS often suffers from a "deficit of results," which is a 
problem, and leaves the role of the OAS in Haiti's future to still 
be shaped. 
 
 
 
¶8. (C) Regarding the next day's meeting of the Union of South 
American Nations (UNASUL) to discuss regional assistance to Haiti, 
Gama joked that, "we just hope the meeting is not too unruly."  He 
warned that rhetoric is often spouted and inflamed during these 
meetings but also assured PolOffs that UNASUL has an important role 
to mobilize political will and public opinion in support of the 
region's efforts and to maintain the commitment to providing 
assistance to Haiti. Gama said that Marco Aurelio Garcia had been 
selected to represent Brazil at the meeting because it was called 
at the last minute and both Brazilian President Lula and Foreign 
Minister Amorim had previously scheduled engagements. 
 
 
 
---------------------------- 
 
BRAZIL UNCLEAR ABOUT MINUSTAH'S FUTURE ROLE 
 
---------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) Gama brought up the future role and composition of 
MINUSTAH as an important issue to be discussed between Brazil, the 
United States, and the UN.  PolCouns noted that Itamaraty Secretary 
General Antonio Patriota had told the Ambasador just a few days 
before that Brazil agreed MINUSTAH's mandate should be kept as it 
 
is for now until future needs are clear. Gama said that the 
Brazilian government is not even sure what it sees as the future of 
MINUSTAH, but emphasized that the security situation in Haiti must 
be tackled. 
 
 
 
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POSITIVE BRAZIL-U.S. PARTNERSHIP IN HAITI 
 
---------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) Gama said that the partnership between U.S. and Brazilian 
troops is working well in Haiti, and that Brasilia and Washington 
need to increase their level of communication. Both Gama and Perez 
expressed interest in continuing to share information with us on 
efforts in Haiti. Gama noted that the times scheduled for 
conference calls with Washington on Haiti conflict at present with 
a weekly meeting held by General Felix to coordinate Haiti efforts. 
Moreover, Under Secretary for Latin America Antonio Simoes would be 
out of town all of February, and therefore would not be on the 
calls.  The GOB would endeavor to have someone on the call February 
11, but Gama also asked about the possibility of rescheduling the 
calls for a more convenient time. 
 
 
 
¶11. (U) Minimize considered. 
SHANNON