SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS: AMBASSADOR MORALES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 000273

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/SCO AND USOAS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/09/2019
TAGS: PGOV ENGR PREL ETRD EFIN EAGR
SUBJECT: SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS: AMBASSADOR MORALES
CONSULTATIONS WITH GOB

Classified By: DCM Lisa Kubiske. REASON: 1.5 (D)


1. (C) SUMMARY. On March 6, USG Summit of the Americas
(SOA) Coordinator Ambassador Hector Morales met with a team
from the Brazilian Ministry for External Relations (MRE) led
by Secretary General for Political Affairs Ambassador Vera
Machado and including Brazilian Summit Coordinator Carlos
Duarte. Discussion focused on the environment leading up to
the Summit as well as approaches to unresolved portions of
the Summit Statement, particularly those addressing trade,
food security and biofuels. The Brazilian side was
optimistic about the Summit and did not believe any country
planned to derail the process or the event. The Brazilians
also agreed to consider USG proposals for way forward on
these points and promised a response before the preparatory
meeting the week of March 16. While the Brazilians were not
ready to offer specific comments in Summit issues, they
indicated a strong desire to work with the U.S. for a
positive result and were clearly impressed by USG willingness
to balance various country positions and demonstrate
flexibility as well as U.S. willingness to conduct bilateral
consultations. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Ambassador Morales framed the discussion of SOA
issues by commenting on his visits to Chile and Argentina,
both of whose governments had agreed that it would be
important to complete the Declaration before the Summit.
Given the length of the current draft, however, both
supported the concept of a short preambular document or
Leaders, Declaration that would give a succinct political
statement regarding Summit priorities, particularly the need
to work together to address the global economic crisis. Such
a document, however, would need to be negotiated after
completing the main Summit Declaration. Morales continued by
highlighting key issues for closing more of the paragraphs of
the Summit statement -- including energy, labor, the
environment, trade, food security, human rights, civil
society, democracy - and presented the Brazilians with U.S.
suggestions for language to resolve these points as a way to
move forward on all these points. The Brazilian side noted
that it would be important to work with other countries,
particularly Venezuela, and they were prepared to do that.


3. (C) The Brazilians said that they shared U.S. views
about the importance of the SOA and that the attendance of
President Obama had raised expectations significantly.
Brazil can support a short declaration of Summit principles
in addition to the main Declaration. Ambassador Machado
noted that Brazil remained concerned about attempts to link
food security with biofuels and about potential increased
protectionism in response to economic pressures. Duarte
added that he did not think any participating state would
"throw bombs" or attempt to derail the Summit or the
Declaration, but that considerable work remained to reconcile
differing national positions. Finally, the Brazilians
mentioned that "someone" may raise the issue of including
Cuba in the SOA process. Morales responded that the U.S.
would be prepared to address this issue when raised.


4. (C) In discussing USG suggestions for closing a package
of paragraphs for the Summit statement, Morales noted that we
were trying to strike a balance between the priorities of
many different countries, but in order to achieve progress,
the paragraphs had to move as a whole. Suggestions for
paragraphs 7 and 7B included mention of the vulnerability of
smaller economies without advocating special and
differentiated treatment that would lead to exceptions from
transparent, rules-based trade. Similarly, he indicated that
the U.S. would be prepared to accept language on food
security and food crises without creating a new standard of
"food sovereignty." He also argues for language on biofuels
that did not presume a social., economic or environmental
"impact" or a link to food security. While the Brazilians
could not provide a coordinated position immediately, Duarte
commented positively on U.S. combination of paragraphs and
attempt to balance interests. He also noted that, although
the U.S. suggestions would not resolve everything, it was a
welcome proposal that would create positive momentum and was
the type of approach that needs to be taken at this stage.
According to Duarte, the Brazilians will need to review the
trade language carefully before accepting, but would be
inclined to support the U.S. approach. He noted, however,
that "others," meaning Venezuela, might find the U.S.
language on biofuels difficult, but he also said that our
willingness to accept food security would certainly help
reach consensus.


5. (C) EMBASSY COMMENT. As expected, the Brazilians were

BRASILIA 00000273 002 OF 002


cautious in their responses to U.S. proposals. There has
been, however, a marked increase in Brazilian focus on the
SOA over the past weeks. Duarte stated that there were now
"high expectations" for a Summit to chart a course of
hemispheric cooperation, a major shift for a government which
in December downplayed the SOA in favor of the Bahia Summit
of South American and Caribbean states. Although Brazilian
and U.S. interests coincide on most remaining issues with the
Summit statement, the Brazilians remain cautious to engage in
support of U.S. initiatives, i.e. the energy partnership.
They were, however, clearly impressed by U.S. willingness to
engage bilaterally and to consult with them on the possible
way forward.


6. (U) Ambassador Morales cleared this cable.
KUBISKE