BILATERAL ENGAGEMENT RESULTS IN IMPROVED PUBLIC REACTION TO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 000607 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL BR SUBJECT: BILATERAL ENGAGEMENT RESULTS IN IMPROVED PUBLIC REACTION TO US-BRAZIL REALTIONS. ¶1. (U) Summary. A number of high level visits by USG officials to Brazil, culminating in two Presidential visits have given us an unprecedented opportunity to get our views into the media. As a result, a more positive tone has started to emerge in the media and public opinion, with residual skepticism being outweighed by an upbeat depiction of USG-GOB relations. End summary. ¶2. (U) Stories on the US-Brazilian relationship have dominated the international news in Brazil over the last month, especially around President Bush's visit to Sao Paulo in early March and President Lula's visit to Camp David. Together with other high level visits, including Attorney General Gonzalez and Undersecretary Burns have led to a higher and significantly improved profile for the bilateral relationship, as well as an unprecedented opportunity to get our views before the media. Agreements on biofuels, education, tax information exchange, S&T cooperation, and the establishment of a CEO Forum contributed to a more positive view of US-Brazil relations. ¶3. (U) The U.S. acknowledgement of Brazil as a "regional leader and global partner," as well as the invitation to Camp David, widely reported as the first Bush has extended to a Latin American leader in many years, played very well in the news media. ¶4. (U) While there continue to be skeptics, the message that the bilateral relationship is moving forward on a positive agenda is finding greater resonance. This is primarily due to successful media outreach using senior US officials, a biofuels agreement that many Brazilians see as positive, and official Brazilian government statements, including Lula's, that incorporated and amplified our themes. ¶5. (U) Mission Brasilia carried out a media campaign involving over forty interviews, op-eds, press conferences, speeches and editorial boards meetings by/for USG officials. Ambassador Sobel and senior USG visitors gave interviews to major print and electronic media, including all of the top circulation newspapers and the largest television and radio networks. Ambassador also conducted a phone-in press conference with the six major regional newspapers. The central theme was to highlight the developing US-Brazil partnership and our mutual commitment to "make a good relationship even better" by moving forward on a positive agenda involving trade, biofuels and a broad range of other topics - commercial, educational, legal, environmental, etc. A/S Shannon and NSC's Fisk reinforced this message in Washington-based interviews. ¶6. (U) President Lula's own statements reinforced and echoing our message, particularly after his visit to Camp David. He stressed the transformational importance of the biofuels agreement and a "strategic relationship" that would allow the US and Brazil to develop new models for economic development, trade policy, and for dealing with global issues such as the environment. This is the first time he has used the term "strategic" regarding the US-Brazil relationship. ¶7. (U) The more positive spirit in US Brazilian relations is typified by O Estado de S. Paulo economic columnist Alberto Tamer, who wrote that despite differences over Petrobras investments in Iran, the Camp David meeting confirmed the "new climate" in Brazil's relations with the U.S. "This is important and represents a major step forward," Tamer added. ¶8. (U) A month of very intensive engagement has ensured that such positive views are now more widely disseminated in the Brazilian media and has set the stage for further positive stories. Concerted use of the Ambassador and other USG officials to spread our message resulted in widespread press coverage that was on the mark, with GOB officials even repeating our own positive statements about strengthening the strategic partnership. ¶9. (SBU) Comment: The positive press play and favorable official rhetoric show how far we have come in changing official and public perceptions of the relationship. In the past we would have expected a more skeptical reaction (such as the one that followed previous visits) and a repetition of the usual anti-American rhetoric. Mainstream negative views were mainly limited to warnings against over optimism, rather than condemnations, about the new relationship. Even the dissenters seem to accept the main features of the new relationship, and their warnings were mainly about the affects that production of ethanol could have on the environment and food supplies. A few senators and the Catholic bishops' conference voiced concerns about problems associated with sugar cane cultivation and a possible new role for Brazil as an energy supplier BRASILIA 00000607 002 OF 002 to the U.S. World trade negotiations, international cooperation in Haiti and elsewhere, and other topics by and large were not questioned, if not ignored. Mainstream commentators did not complain of US heavy-handedness or an asymmetrical relationship. Professor Ricardo Sennes, of the Pontifical Catholic University of Sao Paulo, told Veja magazine that "both sides are signaling a diplomatic course correction." Much of the media focus was on the realization that Brazil is finally and genuinely important to the U.S., how Brazil could best benefit from the U.S.' newfound interest in Brazil's ethanol, and Brazil's important role in the Doha negotiations, among other areas. The new view of the bilateral relationship is an excellent basis for future work. End comment. CHICOLA