CIVIC MOVEMENT "CANSEI" GENERATES BACKLASH

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 SAO PAULO 000777 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/BSC, INR/IAA, INR/R/AA STATE PASS USTR FOR KATE DUCKWORTH NSC FOR TOMASULO TREASURY FOR JHOEK USDOC FOR 4332/ITA/MAC/WH/OLAC USDOC ALSO FOR 3134/USFCS/OIO DOL FOR ILAB SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD USAID FOR LAC/AA FAA FOR CCAPESTANY, MASHBY, CTFRANCESCHI DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR BHEDBERG BUENOS AIRES FOR TSA ATTACHE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON PINR PGOV ELAB EAIR BR SUBJECT: CIVIC MOVEMENT "CANSEI" GENERATES BACKLASH -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (U) In an attempt to tap into popular discontent with the Lula government, a group of Sao Paulo-based professional and business organizations recently launched the Civic Movement for the Right of Brazilians, known informally as "Cansei" (I'm tired). Though leaders insist that the movement is nonpartisan and not aimed at anyone, the federal government and social movements affiliated with President Lula's party have reacted strongly, characterizing "Cansei" as a bunch of very wealthy members of the "white elite" with nothing better to do than complain. Despite this public perception problem, the movement is attempting to press ahead with its agenda, identifying three priority areas for discussion and development of specific proposals for education, public administration, and public security. End Summary. -------------- I'M TIRED... -------------- ¶2. (U) The Civic Movement for the Right of Brazilians was founded in late July by Flavio Luiz Borges d'Urso, President of the Sao Paulo Section of the National Bar Association (OAB),and media impresario Joao Doria Jr, founder and president of the Group of Business Leaders (LIDE) and related organizations. According to d'Urso, the movement's leadership coined the slogan "Cansei" (literally, "I got tired," but more idiomatically, "I'm sick and tired" or "I'm fed up") for publicity purposes. As outlined on its website and to posters, Cansei members are sick and tired of "air traffic chaos, the parallel government of traffickers, children in the streets, corrupting businessmen, stray bullets, so much corruption, and of [the government] not doing anything [about it]." (Note: The July 17 accident at Congonhas airport of TAM flight 3054 which killed 199 people appears to be the catalyst that started this movement. End Note.) ¶3. (U) Many notable organizations have joined the movement, including the Sao Paulo State Federation of Industries (FIESP),the Federation of Brazilian Bankers (FEBRABAN),the National Confederation of Young Businessmen (CONAJE),and the Sao Paulo Chamber of Commerce (ACSP). In addition, on July 27, the Latin American subsidiary of the Netherlands-based multinational Philips took out a half-page advertisement in major newspapers announcing its adherence to the movement, the only individual company to join. ¶4. (U) Cansei's first act was to urge all Brazilians to observe a moment of silence on August 17, the one-month anniversary of the plane crash, in memory of the victims. Cansei also organized a ceremony at the Cathedral in downtown Sao Paulo, but several days before the event, Archbishop Odilo Pedro Scherer withdrew permission, forcing the organizers to move to the outdoor Praca da Se. The event drew somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000 participants, including a number of well-known actors and entertainers. The movement's leaders considered it a success in raising consciousness and attracting members. -------------- NO, WE'RE TIRED SAO PAULO 00000777 002 OF 004 -------------- ¶5. (U) Allies of the governing coalition were quick to cast Cansei as a political movement, pointing out that Joao Doria Jr. is linked to the opposition Social Democracy Party of Brazil (PSDB) and helped manage the unsuccessful 2006 presidential campaign of PSDB candidate Geraldo Alkmin. Within a week, the Unified Workers' Central (CUT) - a labor organization closely tied to President Lula's Workers' Party (PT) - had founded a movement of its own, called "Cansamos" (We're tired),whose members were reportedly tired of "slave labor, tax evasion, child labor, media with no time for social movements, inhumane working hours, media that criminalizes popular struggle, a justice system that favors the economically powerful, media that only gives space to the powerful, big company lobbies, high interest rates, banking fees, the lack of worker rights for more than half the population," and a host of other perceived ills. In addition, the PT's Central Executive Committee (CEN) issued a resolution calling on the entire party to stand up to "the new offensive that the right and elements of the mass media unleashed against the PT and the Lula government" in the aftermath of the plane crash and other setbacks. -------------- THE BAR ASSOCIATION EXPLAINS -------------- ¶6. (U) Poloff and Political Assistant met August 29 with Luiz Flavio Borges d'Urso and other leaders of the Sao Paulo Bar Association (OAB) to ask about the Cansei movement's organizing principles and agenda. D'Urso placed the movement in the context of the OAB's other advocacy activities. The Bar Association, he explained, is a professional organization which by statute involves itself in public causes, including promotion of human rights, democratic institutions, and the rule of law, and has campaigned for disabled, the aged, and children, and against domestic violence, to name a few. OAB often organizes programs in conjunction with the same business associations that are part of Cansei. According to d'Urso, an integral part of public interest advocacy is to praise institutions, including government, when merited but also to criticize them as appropriate. In this case, though Cansei was created to be constructive and to stimulate a fresh look at Brazil's systemic problems, the movement is inevitably critical of the government and is thus perceived as political, he explained. The Archbishop's change of heart on Cansei's use of the Cathedral, in d'Urso's view, was a case of bowing to pressure and was motivated by an institutional desire to steer clear of controversy. ¶7. (U) Following the symbolic moment of silence, d'Urso continued, movement participants voted to make Education, Public Administration, and Public Security the priority areas for engagement. The movement plans to organize roundtables to debate action plans for the three areas to propose to the government. Issues such as the aviation crisis and endemic corruption will be subsumed under the Public Administration rubric. -------------- ACCUSATIONS OF ELITISM -------------- ¶8. (U) Asked why the government and others had responded so negatively to the movement's creation, D'Urso pleaded SAO PAULO 00000777 003 OF 004 misunderstanding. The Cansei movement, which he reiterated was nonpartisan and would remain so, was launched at about the same time as family members of victims of the plane crash organized a march from Ibirapuera park to the crash site across the street from Congonhas airport, where demonstrators commemorated the victims and shouted "Fora Lula" (Lula Out) and similar anti-government slogans. D'Urso insisted that Cansei had nothing to do with this demonstration or with "Fora Lula" events that took place in several cities in following weeks, but the connection had been made in the public mind. Long before the August 17 moment of silence, at which some members of the crowd also shouted "Fora Lula" (and were disavowed by Cansei leaders),the movement had been pegged as anti-Lula and representative of Brazil's economic and political elites. (Comment: Several observers noted that the government and the PT are still smarting from the July 13 incident when Lula was booed at the opening ceremony of the Pan American games in Rio de Janeiro and thus are now more than ever sensitive to criticism of any sort. End Comment.) ¶9. (U) An idiosyncrasy of contemporary Brazilian political culture is that civic movements are hallowed and revered, hearkening back as they do to opposition to the military dictatorship and the 1984 "Diretas Ja" clamor for direct democratic elections, but only insofar as they are perceived as representative of the lowest classes. This attitude was perhaps best summed up by the Sao Paulo president of CUT when he said, "the poorer I am, the more Brazilian I am." The booing of Lula in Rio de Janeiro, for instance, was dismissed by many as merely a reflection of the middle- to upper-class composition of the crowd, and therefore somehow not entirely authentic or to be taken seriously. The fact that polls published shortly thereafter showed Lula's popularity undiminished only served to reinforce this perception. ¶10. (U) "Cansei" leaders did not help their cause when they tried to tell their side of the story. Joao Doria Jr, interviewed by mass-circulation weekly magazine Veja, complained that public opinion discriminates against the successful and wealthy, stressing the right of successful people to express political opinions and to demonstrate. His self-portrayal as someone who never smoked, drank, or used drugs; doesn't fight or use profanity; started using hair gel at the age of nine; and works 17 hours a day, may have made it difficult for ordinary Brazilians to find common cause with him. Another movement leader, Paulo Zottolo, CEO of Philips Latin America, drew negative attention to himself when, referring to one of Brazil's very poor and isolated northeastern states, he told an interviewer that "if Piaui ceases to exist, nobody will be upset." -------------- A BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE -------------- ¶11. (U) In a September 4 meeting with Poloff and Political Assistant, Zottolo insisted his remark had been taken out of context, but again, the damage had been done. Zottolo characterized his company's decision to join the movement as a business decision. Philips believes the company has been disadvantaged by the GoB vis a vis Brazilian companies, and has been frustrated by Brazil's failure to advance towards meaningful economic reform, especially in its taxation system. The Cansei movement, Zottolo said, is not meant to be a popular grass-roots movement, but rather an attempt by the business community to speak out effectively about the challenges SAO PAULO 00000777 004 OF 004 Brazil faces and to try to get things moving in the right direction. ¶12. (U) The sentiment of ineffective governance had been building in the community for some time, Zottolo added, and the plane crash, coupled with the ongoing chaos in civil aviation, merely provided the proverbial straw. "We pay taxes, we respect the law, so we think we deserve to be heard and respected. We made this point to the government," Zottolo explained. He acknowledged that the movement now faces a challenge in moving from general expressions of discontent to a new phase of developing consensus around constructive proposals and working with the government to implement them. Unlike d'Urso and Doria, who both claimed to have been surprised by the intensity of the backlash against the movement, Zottolo claimed he and his colleagues had anticipated it. The Lula government, he explained, is hypersensitive to any and all criticism and almost instinctively reacts in the language of class struggle. For its part, Philips will continue to participate so long as Cansei retains its non-partisan character, but will withdraw if the movement becomes an instrument of any political party or faction. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶13. (U) There exists, in many segments of Brazilian society, general weariness with certain long-standing facts of life in Brazil that include: poor infrastructure, high taxation, a cumbersome bureaucracy, and what many believe to be the government's inability and/or unwillingness to stimulate or accommodate needed change. While these issues are at the heart of what political and economic observers see as the friction creating drag on the Brazilian economy, many Brazilians are still doing well economically and real incomes have improved, especially among the poor. Accordingly, the likelihood of Cansei's attracting substantial broad-based support is open to question. The slogan itself also appears ill-advised in that while it may accurately sum up some people's feelings, it is not very effective as a rallying cry. As former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso recently commented to the CG, it's not a motto that Martin Luther King, Jr., would have chosen to inspire his followers. In addition, the movement's leaders, for all their sincerity and earnestness, have made themselves easy targets for caricature. Finally, given the fact that the government is not in much of a mood to entertain even constructive criticism, the direct impact of Cansei on improving Brazilian governance may be limited. End Comment. ¶14. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Brasilia. WHITE