Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
10SAOPAULO8
2010-01-07 18:41:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Sao Paulo
Cable title:
MEDIA REACTION: FX-2 JET FIGHTER BID
VZCZCXYZ0014 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHSO #0008 0071844 ZNR UUUUU ZZH O 071841Z JAN 10 FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0275 INFO RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA IMMEDIATE RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000008
SIPDIS
STATE INR/R/MR
IIP/R/MR
WHA/PD
DEPT PASS USTR
4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC OIIP BR XM XR KMDR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: FX-2 JET FIGHTER BID
Op-ed in liberal Folha de S. Paulo (1-7) by Eliane Catanhede notes:
".....a U.S. or French representative - I'm not disclosing who -
used a provocation similar to one used by French Minister Herve
Morin against the [Swedish] Gripen NG: 'Does Brazil prefer a
Mercedes or a Beetle?' The answer seems obvious but is not. A
rich and 'bellicose' country that invades Pakistan and Afghanistan
with no timidity certainly [in an allusion to the U.S.] prefers the
Mercedes. But in Brazil, good-natured and with a tight budget, it
is an expensive and nonsensical luxury. Maybe it would be more
adequate, as the FAB (Brazilian Air Force) is saying, to have a
Beetle: a smaller plane, lighter, for half the price, with lower
maintenance costs and an ability to perform well in a possible
attack....the plane would also provide technology more directly,
with ramifications for private companies and good opportunities for
business .....the price factor is not an irrelevant one. The Lula
Administration ends in one year but the debt will remain......for
30 years.....And who is going to pay? FAB, which concluded the
last generation Beetle is good enough for a country like Brazil."
White
SIPDIS
STATE INR/R/MR
IIP/R/MR
WHA/PD
DEPT PASS USTR
4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC OIIP BR XM XR KMDR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: FX-2 JET FIGHTER BID
Op-ed in liberal Folha de S. Paulo (1-7) by Eliane Catanhede notes:
".....a U.S. or French representative - I'm not disclosing who -
used a provocation similar to one used by French Minister Herve
Morin against the [Swedish] Gripen NG: 'Does Brazil prefer a
Mercedes or a Beetle?' The answer seems obvious but is not. A
rich and 'bellicose' country that invades Pakistan and Afghanistan
with no timidity certainly [in an allusion to the U.S.] prefers the
Mercedes. But in Brazil, good-natured and with a tight budget, it
is an expensive and nonsensical luxury. Maybe it would be more
adequate, as the FAB (Brazilian Air Force) is saying, to have a
Beetle: a smaller plane, lighter, for half the price, with lower
maintenance costs and an ability to perform well in a possible
attack....the plane would also provide technology more directly,
with ramifications for private companies and good opportunities for
business .....the price factor is not an irrelevant one. The Lula
Administration ends in one year but the debt will remain......for
30 years.....And who is going to pay? FAB, which concluded the
last generation Beetle is good enough for a country like Brazil."
White