AMBASSADOR REVIEWS BILATERAL AGENDA WITH PRESIDENTIAL

UNCLAS BRASILIA 000832

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ETRD OVIP EINV BR
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR REVIEWS BILATERAL AGENDA WITH PRESIDENTIAL
CHIEF OF STAFF ROUSSEFF


1. (SBU) On April 25, Ambassador met privately with Lula Chief of
Staff Dilma Rousseff in the wake of a prior meeting between visiting
DOE A/S Andrew Karsner and Rousseff (reported septel). In this
subsequent give-and-take session, the Ambassador raised a number of
pending issues with Rousseff in an effort to advance our bilateral
agenda.


2. (SBU) Specifically, the conversation touched upon the
following:

-- Rescheduling the Rousseff Visit to Washington. Because Lula
needed her in Brasilia, Rousseff had just cancelled a scheduled May
1-2 visit to Washington. She stated that while she had been very
much looking forward to the trip, the nature of her job made any
type of foreign travel any iffy proposition. She hoped to
reschedule for the future, although in the end whether she could
travel would always depend upon the president's agenda at the time.


-- Upcoming Visits of Secretaries Paulson and Leavitt.
The Ambassador noted that Treasury Secretary Paulson might travel to
Brasilia in early July and requested a meeting for the Secretary
with President Lula. Rousseff said that she would check the
president's schedule and get back to us. Ambassador also requested
that both Rousseff and Health Minister Temporao meet with HHS
Secretary Leavitt to discuss topics such as malaria prevention when

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the Secretary visits Brazil later in the year. While the U.S.
wanted to partner with Brazil on malaria prevention in both the
Amazon and sub-Saharan Africa, the Ambassador stated, it appeared
that the Foreign Ministry only contemplated cooperation in the
latter region. Minister Rousseff assured us that this was not the
case and offered to make both herself and Health Minister Temporao
available to meet with Secretary Leavitt.

-- Infrastructure and Bilateral Investment. The Ambassador noted
that while Brazil sought to attract greater foreign investment up
until now it had been unwilling to consider negotiations on a
comprehensive bilateral investment treaty (BIT). Conclusion of a
BIT, he observed, would do much to bring investors to Brazil,
particularly in the area of infrastructure. Rousseff suggested that
Emboffs meet with the Planalto (i.e., the President's office)
personnel responsible for infrastructure issues to discuss how best
the U.S. private sector could assist in this area. (Embassy is
currently endeavoring to set up such a meeting.)

-- Sale of Diplomatic Properties. Minister Rousseff stated that
many people were asking her about the contemplated agreement
allowing the sale of U.S. diplomatic properties. The Ambassador
explained that an INSS (social security tax) dispute prevented us
from disposing of unneeded properties. The Foreign Ministry had
drafted legislation (yet to be submitted to Congress) which, if
passed, would permit the U.S to sell these structures - and, in
turn, free up the purchase by Brazil of properties in New York and
Atlanta. Rousseff promised to check into the status of the draft
legislation and make sure that it was timely submitted to the
Brazilian congress.

-- CEO Forum. Finally, Rousseff inquired about the status of the
Brazil-U.S. CEO Forum. The Ambassador replied that the first
meeting should take place sometime this summer and noted that many
prominent CEOs (Motorola, Intel, Coca-Cola, Ford, GM, Alcoa,
Citigroup, Principal Financial Group, etc.) had applied for Forum
membership. For her part, Rousseff pledged to provide the Embassy
with an official list of the Brazilian CEOs that had been selected
to participate.


3. (SBU) Comment. In coming weeks, we shall continue our dialogue
with Rousseff on these and other issues. Sometimes dubbed the "Iron
Lady" - but never to her face - after President Lula she is perhaps
the second most powerful figure in Brazil. Her willingness to
engage in meaningful dialogue with us bodes well for our ongoing
efforts to expand our partnerships with Brazil. Our ultimate goal
is to finally get her to travel to the U.S. to meet her Washington
counterparts, although that may eventually depend upon the vagaries
of Lula's schedule more than anything else.

Sobel