INSIGHT INTO BRAZILIAN FM AMORIM FOREIGN POLICY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BRASILIA 000206

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/05/2017
TAGS: PREL BR
SUBJECT: INSIGHT INTO BRAZILIAN FM AMORIM FOREIGN POLICY
FROM DUTCH FM BOT

Classified By: AMBASSADOR CLIFFORD SOBEL REASONS: 1.4 (B)(D).


1. (C) Summary. Dutch Foreign Minister Bot met with Brazilian
Foreign Minister Amorim recently during his visit to Brazil.
Ambassador Sobel was briefed by the Dutch Mission and gained
insights particularly into Brazil's ideas on a UN Security
Council seat, views on Syria from his recent meeting with the
Syrian President -- including Bot's own view, and a
discussion on possible NATO roles in Latin America to help
the security situation. Jores Gurriens, first secretary of
the Embassy of the Netherlands, who attended all of Bot's
meetings, also briefed poloff on other accomplishments during
the visit, including the signature of two Memorandums of
Understanding (MOUs) with the GoB, one on strengthening
political cooperation and the second opening the door for
Dutch investors to receive economic incentives to do business
in North and Northeastern Brazil under the Dutch PSOM
program. End Summary.

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UN Security Council Seat
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2. (C) Bot said that when discussing UN reforms and the G 4,
Amorim mentioned Brazil's goal in obtaining a seat on the
UNSC. Amorim said that the idea of Brazil having a
semi-permanent seat is acceptable if Brazil would have the
right of reelection. Amorim also said that Brazil would be
amenable to the idea of a trial period for the new seat.

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Syria and the Mideast
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3. (C) Bot said that Amorim had noted that Brazil has an
increasing interest in Syria. Bot mentioned that during his
visit with the Syrian President, the President said that its
borders with Lebanon are secure and there is no proof of any
arms movement between the countries. In fact, Bot strongly
suggested the USG engage more with Syria.

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NATO in Latin America
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4. (C) Bot broached the subject of the possibility of NATO
helping to provide a security role in Latin America, saying
that there are countries that provide security and those that
need security. Bot said there are many ways to cooperate with
NATO and proposed the possibility of Brazil working more
closely with NATO. Amorim said that NATO is an American-led
organization. Bot clarified that when NATO operates out of
region that it operates under a UN mandate, and the US is
only one of the many members of NATO. Amorim received that
proposal with expected reticence, but did not dismiss the
idea outright, saying he was interested in learning more. Bot
believes that there will be room for future discussions.
Brazil would only be interested if the UN was the key
mechanism for possible NATO coordinated security actions.

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MOUs on Political Relations and Economic Development
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5. (C) Gurriens said that the MOU on strengthening political
relations was non-specific and left room for future

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discussions on a number of issues. Multilaterally, Gurriens
said Foreign Ministers Bot and Amorim also discussed the
United Nations, specifically the Human Rights Council, since
both Brazil and the Netherlands are members. A contentious
point is the opposing views on the use of country specific
resolutions; the Netherlands often supports using them
whereas Brazil's official position is to oppose using them
unless there is a particularly egregious violation. He noted
that the Brazilians believe human rights arguments are often
by the economic interests of individual countries,
specifically noting weak stances against China and forceful
but poorly justified arguments against Cuba. In the bilateral
arena, Gurriens said that the Dutch have an interest in the
common cultural heritage with Brazil resulting from the
Netherlands' brief rule in the 16th Century of Northeastern
Brazil. He said that although there is little that has
remained from that period, the Netherlands is interested in
working with Brazil to preserve art and documents from that
era.


6. (C) Gurriens described the second MOU as the opening of a
new instrument for economic cooperation between the
Netherlands and the North and North Eastern parts of Brazil.
This instrument is known by the Dutch acronym PSOM, which
stands for Program for Cooperation with Emerging Markets.
Gurriens said the Netherlands had strong environmental
cooperation with Brazil until 2005 when the program began its
phasing out stage. PSOM has been an effective development
tool in 40-50 countries, and now with this MOU, small to
medium-sized Dutch firms will be paid incentives, up to
650,000 Euros, to cover start up costs incurred while
investing in developing areas of Brazil. (Note: More
information on PSOM is available at www.evd.nl/PSOM. End
Note.)

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Venezuela, Bolivia and Other Topics
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7. (C) The ministers also discussed the regional situation,
including Venezuela and Bolivia. Amorim stuck to the
Itamaraty paradigm -- &better to integrate than to isolate8
-- when referring to Brazil,s foreign policy toward these
countries. However, Amorim did admit that since Venezuela
joined Mercosul negotiations have become more difficult, but
he said about Chavez "his bite is not as bad as his bark".
Amorim also noted that Brazilian relations with Bolivia are
improving since Bolivia is become more pragmatic as Brazil is
becoming more skeptical of Venezuela. Gurriens explained that
Chavez,s Venezuela is an area for Dutch concern since the
Dutch Antilles are in such close proximity. Gurriens noted
that Bolivia is the Netherlands largest development project
partner in the region. He said that Amorim commented that in
the first months of his presidency, Morales was all over the
board and unpredictable due to the learning curve of his new
office; however, now Amorim sees him as having become more
moderate, as demonstrated by his firing of his previous
Minister of Energy. Amorim said that Morales has learned that
Bolivia must guarantee investments so that it can maintain
stable economic partnerships.


8. (C) Gurriens' said there also was discussion of
Dutch-Brazilian cooperation in the area of natural gas,
noting that after WWII, the Netherlands used its natural gas
as a path toward its own economic development and that the
Netherlands would be interested in providing technical

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expertise for the development of this industry in Brazil.

SOBEL