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UNCLAS BRASILIA 001252 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR IO/UNP, WHA/BSC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL UNGA BR
SUBJECT: 63RD UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY: BRAZILIAN PRIORITIES 
 
REF: SECSTATE 99672 
 
¶1. Poloff discussed this year's UNGA with Ministry of External Relations (MRE) UN Division Director Gilda Neves. Brazil will be represented by President Lula and Foreign Mininster Amorim. Both will have extensive schedules of bilateral meetings. Lula is spending more time than planned in New York due to the cancellation of a planned visit to Canada. Amorim will meet with Secretary Rice. According to Neves, the MRE favors increasing bilateral U.S. Brazilian consultations on UN-related issues, especially peacekeeping in Haiti and other regional security questions. Amorim will also be prepared to brief on Brazilian views of the situation in Bolivia and Brazil's efforts to play a moderating role. The MRE has recommended several themes for President Lula's remarks to the General Assembly, especially the need for development assistance for Africa, support to the UN Millenium Development Goals and the importance of enhancing regional integration mechanisms, for example UNASUL. Lula is also expected to make a case for increased civilian assistance to Haiti in the wake of this year's active hurricane season and for strengthening Haiti's governmental institutions. The president will also advocate support for elections in Africa. Brazil would like to send monitors to Guinea Bissau's October elections, but these fall at the same time as Brazil's own municipal elections, the running of which will occupy Brazil's election experts. 

¶2. As usual, Brazil's top priority for this year's UNGA will be Security Council reform. For Brazil, this is defined narrowly as obtaining a new permanent seat on the UNSC. Brazil believes its size, regional influence and gorwing economy entitle it to the status a permanent seat conveys. Neves said Brazil was pleased with the recent decision to move toward inter-governmental negotiations as Brazil was frustrated by the lack of progress in the open ended working group. She expressed her government's view that there was little chance that inter governmental negotiations would lead to consensus and that the issue would ultimately lead to a vote in the General Assembly. "A vote is the way things are done in the UN." she said. Neves also stated that the U.S. view that reform of the UNSC should only take place in the context of broader UN reform was well known, but Brazil's priority was on a Security Council seat. 

¶3. Neves had few comments on other USG priorities as described in reftel. Brazil is still assessing the question of a request for an ICJ opinion on Kosovo's declaration of independence. President Lula will likely meet Serbian President Tadic in New York, but Lula's priority will be to gain support for Brazil's UNSC aspirations and for commercial opportunities; Kosovo is not on Lula's agenda. Neves was interested in plans to expand UN missions in Afghanistan and Iraq and whether these expansions were related to changes in U.S. military presence. Brazil strongly supports completion of the Millenium Development goals, and President Lula plans to participate in a meeting on this subject September 25. 

SOBEL