VZCZCXRO7098
RR RUEHRG
DE RUEHBR #1907 2772018
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 042018Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0128
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 6320
RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 4338
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 5031
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 3806
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ 5666
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 7040
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 2299
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 6451
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 7197
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 5204
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 0916
RHEHOND/DIR ONDCP WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS BRASILIA 001907
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR INL, WHA/BSC
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR EAID KCRM PREL BR
SUBJECT: BRAZILIANS "DARE" TO STRENGTHEN DRUG DEMAND REDUCTION
PROGRAM
REF: BRASILIA 1893
1. (U) The Brazilian National Anti-drug Secretariat (SENAD) and the
National Public Safety Secretariat (SENASP) convened a national
conference on September 27-28 to re-assess the U.S.-based Drug Abuse
Resistance Education Program (D.A.R.E.), or PROERD as it is known in
Brazil. The federal government is now looking to play a role in
strengthening PROERD by expanding the program's reach beyond
children to include adolescents and parents. Paulo Roberto Uchoa,
the National Anti-drug Secretary (Brazilian Drug Czar), and Dr.
Antonio Biscaia, Secretary for National Public Safety, headlined the
conference, which included the participation of PROERD
representatives from all 26 Brazilian states and the Federal
District. Uchoa publicly praised the program's "extraordinary"
outreach, and committed GOB assistance to help Brazilian states
locally implement a more ambitious version of PROERD. He made a
special point to thank NAS Brasilia for past USG support, adding
that he hoped to continue the "productive relationship."
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BACKGROUND ON NAS SUPPORT
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2. (U) Brazil's PROERD program, which is modeled after the U.S.
D.A.R.E. program, was established in 1992 following a successful
ConGen Rio public affairs speaker program that brought police
officers from Los Angeles, California, to the state of Rio de
Janeiro. NAS financially supported development projects that
provided regional training to uniformed police officers, and the
program eventually expanded to all 26 Brazilian states and the
Federal District. At its inception, due to limited state budgets,
nearly all regional and international training courses were
USG-funded. PROERD, which is locally implemented by 2,776 uniformed
state police officers, is now fully financed by state budgets and
boasts five regional training centers in the states of Sao Paulo,
Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina, and the Federal
District. Cost-sharing has also helped: participating police
officers are paid from the state budget, and workbooks are often
provided by local businesses or by parents of children in private
schools.
3. (U) Over 7 million Brazilian children, and parents in some
cases, have participated in at least one of the three PROERD
curricula being implemented countrywide. Over the years, supporters
and critics alike have studied, re-assessed, and ultimately adapted
the program for Brazilian audiences. Some innovations to the
delivery method developed in Brazil include translation of the
program workbook to Braille and training in Brazilian sign language
(Libra). PROERD has become the second largest program of its kind
in the world, and it maintains an important link with the world's
biggest program: D.A.R.E. in the United States. Program updates and
new curricula implemented in the United States are sometimes
translated and tailored to Brazilian audiences, often delivered by
U.S. police officers in international conferences or seminars
supported by NAS.
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COMMENT
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4. (U) USG support has helped PROERD grow from local initiatives
heavily dependent on USG funding into a virtually self-sustaining
nationwide drug prevention program. The GOB, which hitherto had
maintained its distance from the "state-run" PROERD, appears to be
warming up to the program's potential. For the first time in the
history of PROERD, the GOB has publicly praised it, acknowledged
some results, and committed federal support to help the various
state police forces with funding, material, technical support, and
assistance in coordinating training. It remains to be seen whether
SENAD and SENASP can tap into the program's already established
network to disseminate prevention messages and other services
through the uniformed state (military) police -- one of the few
official entities present in nearly all of the Brazil's 5,564
cities.
CHICOLA