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DE RUEHBR #0206/01 0371424
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FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8033
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION PRIORITY 5928
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BRASILIA 000206 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/05/2017 
TAGS: PREL BR
SUBJECT: INSIGHT INTO BRAZILIAN FM AMORIM FOREIGN POLICY 
FROM DUTCH FM BOT 
 
 Classified By: AMBASSADOR CLIFFORD SOBEL REASONS: 1.4 (B)(D). 

¶1. (C) Summary. Dutch Foreign Minister Bot met with Brazilian Foreign Minister Amorim recently during his visit to Brazil. Ambassador Sobel was briefed by the Dutch Mission and gained insights particularly into Brazil's ideas on a UN Security Council seat, views on Syria from his recent meeting with the Syrian President -- including Bot's own view, and a discussion on possible NATO roles in Latin America to help the security situation. Jores Gurriens, first secretary of the Embassy of the Netherlands, who attended all of Bot's meetings, also briefed poloff on other accomplishments during the visit, including the signature of two Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with the GoB, one on strengthening political cooperation and the second opening the door for Dutch investors to receive economic incentives to do business in North and Northeastern Brazil under the Dutch PSOM program. End Summary. 

------------------------ UN Security Council Seat ------------------------ 

¶2. (C) Bot said that when discussing UN reforms and the G 4, Amorim mentioned Brazil's goal in obtaining a seat on the UNSC. Amorim said that the idea of Brazil having a semi-permanent seat is acceptable if Brazil would have the right of reelection. Amorim also said that Brazil would be amenable to the idea of a trial period for the new seat. 

---------------------- Syria and the Mideast ---------------------- 

¶3. (C) Bot said that Amorim had noted that Brazil has an increasing interest in Syria. Bot mentioned that during his visit with the Syrian President, the President said that its borders with Lebanon are secure and there is no proof of any arms movement between the countries. In fact, Bot strongly suggested the USG engage more with Syria. 

--------------------- NATO in Latin America --------------------- 

¶4. (C) Bot broached the subject of the possibility of NATO helping to provide a security role in Latin America, saying that there are countries that provide security and those that need security. Bot said there are many ways to cooperate with NATO and proposed the possibility of Brazil working more closely with NATO. Amorim said that NATO is an American-led organization. Bot clarified that when NATO operates out of region that it operates under a UN mandate, and the US is only one of the many members of NATO. Amorim received that proposal with expected reticence, but did not dismiss the idea outright, saying he was interested in learning more. Bot believes that there will be room for future discussions. Brazil would only be interested if the UN was the key mechanism for possible NATO coordinated security actions. 

--------------------------------------------- ------- MOUs on Political Relations and Economic Development --------------------------------------------- ------- 

¶5. (C) Gurriens said that the MOU on strengthening political relations was non-specific and left room for future 

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discussions on a number of issues. Multilaterally, Gurriens said Foreign Ministers Bot and Amorim also discussed the United Nations, specifically the Human Rights Council, since both Brazil and the Netherlands are members. A contentious point is the opposing views on the use of country specific resolutions; the Netherlands often supports using them whereas Brazil's official position is to oppose using them unless there is a particularly egregious violation. He noted that the Brazilians believe human rights arguments are often by the economic interests of individual countries, specifically noting weak stances against China and forceful but poorly justified arguments against Cuba. In the bilateral arena, Gurriens said that the Dutch have an interest in the common cultural heritage with Brazil resulting from the Netherlands' brief rule in the 16th Century of Northeastern Brazil. He said that although there is little that has remained from that period, the Netherlands is interested in working with Brazil to preserve art and documents from that era. 

¶6. (C) Gurriens described the second MOU as the opening of a new instrument for economic cooperation between the Netherlands and the North and North Eastern parts of Brazil. This instrument is known by the Dutch acronym PSOM, which stands for Program for Cooperation with Emerging Markets. Gurriens said the Netherlands had strong environmental cooperation with Brazil until 2005 when the program began its phasing out stage. PSOM has been an effective development tool in 40-50 countries, and now with this MOU, small to medium-sized Dutch firms will be paid incentives, up to 650,000 Euros, to cover start up costs incurred while investing in developing areas of Brazil. (Note: More information on PSOM is available at www.evd.nl/PSOM. End Note.) 

---------------------------------- Venezuela, Bolivia and Other Topics ---------------------------------- 

¶7. (C) The ministers also discussed the regional situation, including Venezuela and Bolivia. Amorim stuck to the Itamaraty paradigm -- &better to integrate than to isolate8 -- when referring to Brazil,s foreign policy toward these countries. However, Amorim did admit that since Venezuela joined Mercosul negotiations have become more difficult, but he said about Chavez "his bite is not as bad as his bark". Amorim also noted that Brazilian relations with Bolivia are improving since Bolivia is become more pragmatic as Brazil is becoming more skeptical of Venezuela. Gurriens explained that Chavez,s Venezuela is an area for Dutch concern since the Dutch Antilles are in such close proximity. Gurriens noted that Bolivia is the Netherlands largest development project partner in the region. He said that Amorim commented that in the first months of his presidency, Morales was all over the board and unpredictable due to the learning curve of his new office; however, now Amorim sees him as having become more moderate, as demonstrated by his firing of his previous Minister of Energy. Amorim said that Morales has learned that Bolivia must guarantee investments so that it can maintain stable economic partnerships. 

¶8. (C) Gurriens' said there also was discussion of Dutch-Brazilian cooperation in the area of natural gas, noting that after WWII, the Netherlands used its natural gas as a path toward its own economic development and that the Netherlands would be interested in providing technical 

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expertise for the development of this industry in Brazil. 

SOBEL