BRAZIL: MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS ON SHOOTDOWN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRASILIA 001079 SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/BSC AND L E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/06/2018 TAGS: BR MOPS PREL SNAR SUBJECT: BRAZIL: MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS ON SHOOTDOWN REF: A. BRASILIA 806 ¶B. STATE 54183 Classified By: DCM Lisa Kubiske. REASON:1.5 (d) ¶1. (C) On August 5, POLMILOFF met with Ministry of External Relations (MRE) Special Advisor Marcos Pinta Gama and discussed U.S.-Brazil cooperation on shootdown-related issues. (Note: Pinta Gama, a key embassy contact, is chief of staff to Secretary General (vice minister) Samuel Pinheiro Guimaraes, the MRE's senior point person on all pol-mil issues, and MRE liaison with the Defense Ministry and military. End note.) Pinta Gama expressed satisfaction with working level contacts with U.S. agencies and said that he believed exchanges of information were improving. He said that one of the results of Defense Minister Jobim's visit to Florida was better understanding of the advantages of greater information sharing in the counternarcotics area and that the GOB would be looking at ways to expand cooperation including by sending additional personnel to JIATF-S in Key West. ¶2. (C) On Brazil's shootdown legislation, Pinta Gama stated that Brazil has a strong policy in place to ensure that the highest safety standards are enforced. He noted that Brazil has never shot down a plane, but the policy's existence has brought about a "significant" decrease in the use of Brazilian airspace by drug traffickers. Pinta Gama believes that Brazil's record of safe application of its shootdown policy and air controller's familiarity with it makes any shootdown unlikely. SOBEL