BRAZILIAN SENATORS SUPPORT REINSTITUTING VISA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 000745

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR CA, WHA/BSC, DHS LIAISON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2015
TAGS: PGOV CVIS BR US
SUBJECT: BRAZILIAN SENATORS SUPPORT REINSTITUTING VISA
REQUIREMENT FOR BRAZILIAN TRAVELERS TO MEXICO


Classified By: POLOFF RICHARD REITER, REASONS 1.4B AND D.


1. (C) On March 16, Ambassador Danilovich met in the embassy
with Brazilian Senators Cristovam Buarque and Marcelo
Crivella to discuss the issue of Brazilians attempting to
enter the US illegally via the southern land border. Senator
Buarque (PT-Brasilia) is a former Minister of Education who
now chairs the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee. He lived
for four years in Washington in the 1970s while working at
the IDB; his two daughters are US citizens. Senator Crivella
(PL-Rio de Janeiro) chairs the Senate Sub-Committee on
Protection of Brazilians Abroad. He is an evangelical
minister who travels frequently to the US in connection with
his church duties. For several years Crivella has worked
closely with the embassy to discourage Brazilians from trying
to immigrate illegally to the US and in facilitating the
repatriation of Brazilians detained in US immigration
facilities.

MINUTEMAN PROJECT
--------------

2. (C) Crivella expressed concern about "The Minuteman
Project" (www.minutemanproject.com),a group in the US
enlisting members to confront illegal immigrants. While the
group's website describes an effort to patrol the US southern
border and report illegal immigrants to DHS, Crivella
expressed concern that members of the group appear to have
military training and equipment. This, the Senator noted,
creates the potential for violence against immigrants in an
already dangerous region. Ambassador Danilovich responded
that while the group's freedom of expression is protected by
law, the use of violence or vigilantism is not acceptable,
and US authorities will fully prosecute such activities.

MEXICAN VISA WAIVER FOR BRAZILIANS
--------------

3. (C) The Ambassador pointed out that one part of the
problem is that for the past four years, Mexico has not
required visitors' visas for Brazilians, making Mexico an
attractive staging point for Brazilians wishing to enter the
US illegally. The Ambassador noted that this is an issue of
importance to the USG, and we have raised it with the
Mexicans on several occasions. The Ambassador added that the
number of Brazilians detained by DHS so far this year (9,000)
is running nearly double the number detained in 2004.


4. (C) Crivella agreed, saying he would like to see Mexico
reinstate its visa requirement for Brazilians. Crivella said
he will meet with Mexican President Fox next week (and will
carry a letter from President Lula) and plans to raise this
topic. He added that he recently wrote to Brazilian Foreign
Minister Amorim, but was rebuffed. Amorim, said Crivella,
responded that the visa agreement with Mexico had recently
been extended for six more months so the timing was bad, and
that the visa waiver was useful for "Brazilian tourists
visiting Cancun". Both Senators seemed puzzled by Amorim's
response, in that it seems to put the interests of a few
hundred well-heeled Brazilian vacationers over that of the
thousands of Brazilians detained by DHS each year. Both
Senators appeared interested in revisiting the issue with the
Brazilian Foreign Ministry, possibly raising it publicly in
the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee. Crivella suggested
that his hand would be strengthened in his discussions with
the Foreign Ministry if the US offers the GoB an incentive
(e.g., increasing the number of work visas available to
Brazilians) in return for Brazil giving up its visa waiver
agreement with Mexico.

COMMENT - WELCOME ALLIES
--------------

5. (C) Brazil's Foreign Ministry often leaps at
opportunities to demonstrate that its foreign policy is
independent of the US, and Amorim's reluctance to revisit the
Mexican visa waiver may be part of his occasional penchant to
take positions that are deliberately unhelpful to US
concerns. Thus our efforts in this area may be impeded as
much by this sentiment as by any realistic cost-benefit
analysis of the visa waiver itself. However, in the recent
past, Amorim has been directly involved in bilateral consular
issues (i.e., during the tensions linked to US fingerprinting
requirements at POEs followed by the GOBs retaliation in kind
against US visitors),and we can use that history to
re-engage with him. The Senators' still-evolving idea to
raise the issue publicly in their committee is one tactic to
bring pressure to bear on the Foreign Ministry. And while
this approach is not guaranteed of success, the Senators make
welcome allies in our cause, and post will explore with the
Senators and with Washington agencies ways to approach the
GoB on the issue.
DANILOVICH