BRAZIL: OAS CULTURAL DIVERSITY DEMARCHE DELIVERED

UNCLAS BRASILIA 001854 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD OAS PREL BR SUBJECT: BRAZIL: OAS CULTURAL DIVERSITY DEMARCHE DELIVERED REF: STATE 143314 This cable is Sensitive But Unclassified, please protect accordingly. ¶1. (U) Please see action request in paragraph 4. ¶2. (SBU) Econoff made reftel points to Marcelo Dantas, Director of the Division of Multilateral Cultural Agreements and Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Dantas told Econoff that he would be "quite frank." According to Dantas, the Brazilian Ministry of Culture representative who had headed the Brazilian delegation to the UNESCO meeting, of which Dantas was a member, and who had proposed Brazil's hosting of the Spring 2007 meeting, is no longer with the Ministry of Culture and no longer has any role in those decisions. Given that the "team is likely going to change," Dantas said he was unsure whether Brazil would, in fact, host the Spring 2007 meeting and that this will no doubt be discussed on the OAS CIC September 6 conference call. While unwilling to rule out the possibility that Brazil would host the Spring 2007 meeting, he indicated that things are highly fluid right now with the upcoming October Presidential elections and that it was uncertain what changes might take place within the Ministry of Culture after the elections. ¶3. (SBU) Dantas acknowledged the USG point that UNESCO and the OAS are completely separate entities and that they represent "different subject matter" and seemed receptive to working with the USG to promote a consensus-oriented approach within the OAS Cultural Diversity Workshop. He said he appreciated knowing the U.S.'s point of view on this subject. Dantas, however, will not himself be participating in the planning events (i.e. the September 6 conference call or the November Montreal planning meetings) and he stressed the potential impact of the upcoming Brazilian elections on future priorities and decisions by the Ministry of Culture. ¶4. (SBU) Action request: Dantas asked for a short written summary of the USG position that he could pass to the Brazilian representative who will take part in the conference call. Given reftel instructions that the talking points were not to be shared, post requests an appropriate written summary that we can pass to the GoB. CHICOLA