BRAZIL: TSA ACHIEVEMENTS IN CIVIL AVIATION SECURITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 001267 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR EEB/TRA/OTP, WHA/BSC, WHA/EPSC STATE PASS USDHS/TSA RROTTMAN, FCARTER STATE PASS USTR FOR KKALUTIEWICZ STATE PASS USTDA FOR GMANDEL STATE PASS USDOC FOR LFUSSELL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EAIR ASEC BR SUBJECT: BRAZIL: TSA ACHIEVEMENTS IN CIVIL AVIATION SECURITY COOPERATION SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED ¶1. (SBU) Summary: After almost a 3 year absence in Brazil, TSA successfully resumed airport security visits in Brazil on August 10, 2009, and is poised to expand this important relationship through technical exchanges and increased cooperation in other civil aviation related security areas. With the goal of capitalizing on this positive development, TSA's Director of International Operations in the Office of Global Strategies, Robert Rottman, met with Brazilian air transportation officials and Brazil's Foreign Ministry, October 5-8 in Brasilia, to acknowledge their efforts in helping to restart TSA's Foreign Airport Assessment Program (FAAP), to recognize their assistance during recently successful airport security visits, to finalize details of the remaining 2009 airport security visits, to explore areas of mutual technical cooperation, and to discuss TSA's plan to establish a TSAR office in Brasilia. The visit established that there is scope and mutual interest in improving aviation security cooperation while enhancing Brazil's regional leadership role in this area. End Summary. MRE- KEY STAKEHOLDER -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Virginia Toniatti, Director for the General Coordination to Combat Transnational Crimes Division at the Ministry of External Relations, and a pivotal player in ensuring cooperation with Brazil's government, acknowledged TSA's successful work during its recent airport visits. She also stressed the importance of continued cooperation and communication with not only her office, but with Brazil's Federal Airport Infrastructure Agency (INFRAERO) and Brazil's Civil Aviation Regulatory Agency (ANAC) to ensure TSA's sustained success in Brazil. Toniatti expressed interest in working with TSA to establish Brazilian regional leadership in the area of civil aviation security and was very pleased to hear that TSA bilateral engagement already involved many developed nations. She requested additional information on TSA's organization, TSAR's office locations (current and planned),and clarification on TSA's role versus FAA's (Note: This information has since been given to MRE, ANAC and INFRAERO for their review. End Note). Besides showing interest in other TSA areas of responsibility such as waterways, ports, rail, subways, and pipelines, Toniatti was receptive to the offer of possible TSA support for World Cup 2014 and Olympics 2016 planning. Upon hearing of TSA's proposal to place a permanent TSAR office in Brasilia, Toniatti explained that she would have to present the idea to other GOB officials for their review upon receipt of the proposal through diplomatic channels. ANAC- POSITIVE COLLABORATION -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Meetings with ANAC President Solange Vieira, Director Alexandre Barros, and Security Manager Leonardo Boszczowski centered on the successful re-instatement of TSA's FAAP and potential training that could enhance ANAC's civil aviation security capacities. Vieira was pleased with the progress of the airport visits and with the fact that TSA has been impressed by ANAC's airport security procedures and preparedness. Vieira requested information on possible TSA training opportunities and information on the TSA agency structure and related roles and responsibilities with an eye on possible collaboration for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. She also accepted an invitation to tour TSA headquarters on her next visit to the United States. Both Vieira and Barros welcomed the TSA proposal of placing a TSAR in Brasilia, adding that Boszczowski's recent permanent reassignment from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia could lead to greater engagement opportunities. In recognizing TSA as one of the best aviation security agencies in the world, Barros confirmed the schedule of future TSA airport security visits and offered that this type of cooperation could enhance ANAC's regional regulatory leadership role in civil aviation security. INFRAERO- KEY PARTNER -------------- ¶4. (SBU) INFRAERO's President Murilo Barboza expressed pleasure with the INFRAERO and TSA working relationship. Having been impressed during previous visits to TSA headquarters, he expressed his hope that an even closer working relationship could be established through technical exchanges to allow his staff to visit TSA offices and airports. Barboza expressed a particular interest in aviation security intelligence as an area for increased cooperation. Barboza stated that he supported the placement of a TSAR in Brasilia, arguing that this would strengthen TSA's case for formalizing a BRASILIA 00001267 002 OF 002 Federal Air Marshall's program (FAM) with the MRE and would improve TSA's abilities to assist INFRAERO in preparing for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. Barboza added that TSA was welcome to visit any of the INFRAERO-managed airports in Brazil. ¶5. (U) Rottman met INFRAERO's Brasilia Airport Superintendent Abibe Junior during a brief security tour in preparations for the formal TSA security visit scheduled for October 28-30. Junior spoke about his airport's security capabilities, the airport's expansion plans, and expressed confidence in Delta beginning its direct Atlanta and Brasilia on time (December 17, 2009). ¶6. (SBU) Comment: The interest shown by government security officials in TSA's visit is a reflection of the attention and urgency that Brazil has in developing its civil aviation security apparatus to not only accommodate the World Cup in 2014 and the Rio Olympics in 2016, but also to establish Brazil's regional leadership in this area. TSA's holistic approach to engagement with Brazil on this sensitive subject has generated excellent progress to date. By updating MRE on the negotiations with ANAC and working closely with ANAC to internally build support with MRE, the visit yielded productive results in moving aviation security cooperation forward. Post recommends that this approach continue to be used during future TSA discussions in Brazil, which stands a good chance of success as we seek to deepen the Brazil-United States relationship on aviation security. End Comment. KUBISKE