Cablegate: Brazil: Oas Cultural Diversity Demarche Delivered

VZCZCXRO3216
PP RUEHRG
DE RUEHBR #1854 2441850
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 011850Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6554
INFO RUEHGT/AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA 0290
RUEHKG/AMEMBASSY KINGSTON 0083
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 0985
RUEHFR/USMISSION UNESCO PARIS
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 5386
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 7923
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 2789

UNCLAS BRASILIA 001854

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ETRD OAS PREL BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL: OAS CULTURAL DIVERSITY DEMARCHE DELIVERED

REF: STATE 143314

This cable is Sensitive But Unclassified, please protect
accordingly.

1. (U) Please see action request in paragraph 4.

2. (SBU) Econoff made reftel points to Marcelo Dantas, Director of
the Division of Multilateral Cultural Agreements and Affairs at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Dantas told Econoff that he would be "quite frank." According to
Dantas, the Brazilian Ministry of Culture representative who had
headed the Brazilian delegation to the UNESCO meeting, of which
Dantas was a member, and who had proposed Brazil's hosting of the
Spring 2007 meeting, is no longer with the Ministry of Culture and
no longer has any role in those decisions. Given that the "team is
likely going to change," Dantas said he was unsure whether Brazil
would, in fact, host the Spring 2007 meeting and that this will no
doubt be discussed on the OAS CIC September 6 conference call.
While unwilling to rule out the possibility that Brazil would host
the Spring 2007 meeting, he indicated that things are highly fluid
right now with the upcoming October Presidential elections and that
it was uncertain what changes might take place within the Ministry
of Culture after the elections.

3. (SBU) Dantas acknowledged the USG point that UNESCO and the OAS
are completely separate entities and that they represent "different
subject matter" and seemed receptive to working with the USG to
promote a consensus-oriented approach within the OAS Cultural
Diversity Workshop. He said he appreciated knowing the U.S.'s point
of view on this subject. Dantas, however, will not himself be
participating in the planning events (i.e. the September 6
conference call or the November Montreal planning meetings) and he
stressed the potential impact of the upcoming Brazilian elections on
future priorities and decisions by the Ministry of Culture.

4. (SBU) Action request: Dantas asked for a short written summary of
the USG position that he could pass to the Brazilian representative
who will take part in the conference call. Given reftel instructions
that the talking points were not to be shared, post requests an
appropriate written summary that we can pass to the GoB.

CHICOLA

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