BRAZIL REQUESTS SPECIFICS ON SUSPENSION OF ISS

UNCLAS BRASILIA 000052 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR OES/SAT FOR BFORD STATE FOR WHA/BSC FOR WPOPP STATE PLEASE PASS TO NASA FOR OBRIEN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TSPA SENV KSCA KTIA TBIO TPHY TRGY TSPL BR SUBJECT: BRAZIL REQUESTS SPECIFICS ON SUSPENSION OF ISS ARRANGEMENT REF: 06 STATE 200697 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED ¶1. (SBU) Summary: SCI Counselor delivered reftel demarche January 9, to Counselor Maria Teresa Pessoa, Chief of the Division of Oceans, Antarctic and Space, Brazil Foreign Ministry (Itamaraty). Counselor Pessoa was expecting the visit and aware of the USG desire to either suspend or terminate the bilateral International Space Station Arrangement (ISS). GoB appears to be leaning more towards suspension but has asked the Embassy to provide further detail on what specific steps would be necessary. Post requests Bureau to provide information to pass to Itamaraty. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) The January 9 meeting between Counselor Pessoa, Science Counselor Norman and Science Officer Moore was cordial and frank. Counselor Pessoa said that Brazil was surprised to learn during the Nov. 9, 2006, meeting between Mr. O'Brien of NASA and Dr. Mussi of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) of the U.S. desire to either suspend or terminate the ISS arrangement. They had believed, based on their communications with the technical staff in Houston, that the relationship was functioning well. ¶3. (SBU) Counselor Pessoa openly speculated as to why the United States was making this request. She stated that it might be because of the U.S. concern about the cross-waiver of the liability clause in the ISS, which when it resurfaced during the recently-completed negotiations of the Large Scale Biosphere Atmosphere Amazon Research (LBA),proved to be a very contentious issue. ¶4. (SBU) Pessoa stated that the reason the Brazilian commitment to the International Space Station ran into budget problems was because when the ISS arrangement was negotiated and signed, it immediately came into force, circumventing the normal approval process which should have included vetting by the Brazilian Congress. When the funding problems became apparent to Itamaraty, it considered renegotiating the ISS and sending it through the normal approvals process in order to apply for budgetary funds. ¶5. (SBU) Counselor Pessoa stated that Itamaraty would like to resolve the ISS issue without any public attention, noting that it had already received queries from members of the Brazilian Congress. She stated that cooperation with the United States on all matters relating to science and technology, especially in the area of space, was essential for Brazil. Counselor Norman assured Pessoa that the United States has no intention of raising this matter publicly and that we equally value the relationship with Brazil. ¶6. (SBU) Counselor Pessoa concluded by saying that since the option of suspension was not covered in the ISS arrangement, the GoB would need to know before making a decision, exactly what suspension would entail. Post requests Bureau provide information to pass to Itamaraty. SOBEL