Cablegate: Wha Targeted Requests for Afghan National Army

VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBR #1312 2771104
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 031104Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2580
INFO RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0011
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 2128
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO BRUSSELS BE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRASILIA 001312

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/03/2018
TAGS: PREL AF BR
SUBJECT: WHA TARGETED REQUESTS FOR AFGHAN NATIONAL ARMY

REF: SECSTATE 98082

Classified By: Political Counselor Stephen M. Liston, reasons 1.4 b and d.

1. (SBU) PolCouns delivered the demarche on September 24 to Minister Marcos Pinta Gama in the Foreign Ministry's General Secretariat of Foreign Relations, and Poloff delivered it on September 29 to First Secretary Marisa Kenicke, the Afghanistan desk officer. Pinta Gama noted that Brazil had attended an earlier donor conference on Afghanistan and was considering ways in which it might be helpful. Up to this point, Brazil has looked for development-related projects rather than support for the military, however. So far, the GOB has not found feasible opportunities for supporting Afghanistan. Kenicke received the demarche without substantive comment and reported October 1 that there was still no official response.

2. (C) Brazil's track record suggests that it would be precedent-breaking for Brazil to support a foreign military force outside of a UN system mechanism, within which the GOB strongly prefers to work. The request of five million dollars over five years is far larger than many other requests we have made which have gone unanswered. Brazil's resources for assistance in general are extremely limited, and the GOB tends to prefer technical assistance for social development projects.

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