VZCZCXRO1564
RR RUEHRG
DE RUEHBR #1267/01 3001844
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 271844Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5292
INFO RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 8321
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 0012
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 0054
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 001267
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
STATE FOR EEB/TRA/OTP, WHA/BSC, WHA/EPSC
STATE PASS USDHS/TSA RROTTMAN, FCARTER
STATE PASS USTR FOR KKALUTIEWICZ
STATE PASS USTDA FOR GMANDEL
STATE PASS USDOC FOR LFUSSELL
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EAIR ASEC BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL: TSA ACHIEVEMENTS IN CIVIL AVIATION SECURITY
COOPERATION
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED
1. (SBU) Summary: After almost a 3 year absence in Brazil, TSA
successfully resumed airport security visits in Brazil on August 10,
2009, and is poised to expand this important relationship through
technical exchanges and increased cooperation in other civil
aviation related security areas. With the goal of capitalizing on
this positive development, TSA's Director of International
Operations in the Office of Global Strategies, Robert Rottman, met
with Brazilian air transportation officials and Brazil's Foreign
Ministry, October 5-8 in Brasilia, to acknowledge their efforts in
helping to restart TSA's Foreign Airport Assessment Program (FAAP),
to recognize their assistance during recently successful airport
security visits, to finalize details of the remaining 2009 airport
security visits, to explore areas of mutual technical cooperation,
and to discuss TSA's plan to establish a TSAR office in Brasilia.
The visit established that there is scope and mutual interest in
improving aviation security cooperation while enhancing Brazil's
regional leadership role in this area. End Summary.
MRE- KEY STAKEHOLDER
--------------------
2. (SBU) Virginia Toniatti, Director for the General Coordination to
Combat Transnational Crimes Division at the Ministry of External
Relations, and a pivotal player in ensuring cooperation with
Brazil's government, acknowledged TSA's successful work during its
recent airport visits. She also stressed the importance of
continued cooperation and communication with not only her office,
but with Brazil's Federal Airport Infrastructure Agency (INFRAERO)
and Brazil's Civil Aviation Regulatory Agency (ANAC) to ensure TSA's
sustained success in Brazil. Toniatti expressed interest in working
with TSA to establish Brazilian regional leadership in the area of
civil aviation security and was very pleased to hear that TSA
bilateral engagement already involved many developed nations. She
requested additional information on TSA's organization, TSAR's
office locations (current and planned), and clarification on TSA's
role versus FAA's (Note: This information has since been given to
MRE, ANAC and INFRAERO for their review. End Note). Besides showing
interest in other TSA areas of responsibility such as waterways,
ports, rail, subways, and pipelines, Toniatti was receptive to the
offer of possible TSA support for World Cup 2014 and Olympics 2016
planning. Upon hearing of TSA's proposal to place a permanent TSAR
office in Brasilia, Toniatti explained that she would have to
present the idea to other GOB officials for their review upon
receipt of the proposal through diplomatic channels.
ANAC- POSITIVE COLLABORATION
----------------------------
3. (SBU) Meetings with ANAC President Solange Vieira, Director
Alexandre Barros, and Security Manager Leonardo Boszczowski centered
on the successful re-instatement of TSA's FAAP and potential
training that could enhance ANAC's civil aviation security
capacities. Vieira was pleased with the progress of the airport
visits and with the fact that TSA has been impressed by ANAC's
airport security procedures and preparedness. Vieira requested
information on possible TSA training opportunities and information
on the TSA agency structure and related roles and responsibilities
with an eye on possible collaboration for the 2014 World Cup and
2016 Olympics. She also accepted an invitation to tour TSA
headquarters on her next visit to the United States. Both Vieira
and Barros welcomed the TSA proposal of placing a TSAR in Brasilia,
adding that Boszczowski's recent permanent reassignment from Rio de
Janeiro to Brasilia could lead to greater engagement opportunities.
In recognizing TSA as one of the best aviation security agencies in
the world, Barros confirmed the schedule of future TSA airport
security visits and offered that this type of cooperation could
enhance ANAC's regional regulatory leadership role in civil aviation
security.
INFRAERO- KEY PARTNER
---------------------
4. (SBU) INFRAERO's President Murilo Barboza expressed pleasure with
the INFRAERO and TSA working relationship. Having been impressed
during previous visits to TSA headquarters, he expressed his hope
that an even closer working relationship could be established
through technical exchanges to allow his staff to visit TSA offices
and airports. Barboza expressed a particular interest in aviation
security intelligence as an area for increased cooperation. Barboza
stated that he supported the placement of a TSAR in Brasilia,
arguing that this would strengthen TSA's case for formalizing a
BRASILIA 00001267 002 OF 002
Federal Air Marshall's program (FAM) with the MRE and would improve
TSA's abilities to assist INFRAERO in preparing for the 2014 World
Cup and 2016 Olympics. Barboza added that TSA was welcome to visit
any of the INFRAERO-managed airports in Brazil.
5. (U) Rottman met INFRAERO's Brasilia Airport Superintendent Abibe
Junior during a brief security tour in preparations for the formal
TSA security visit scheduled for October 28-30. Junior spoke about
his airport's security capabilities, the airport's expansion plans,
and expressed confidence in Delta beginning its direct Atlanta and
Brasilia on time (December 17, 2009).
6. (SBU) Comment: The interest shown by government security
officials in TSA's visit is a reflection of the attention and
urgency that Brazil has in developing its civil aviation security
apparatus to not only accommodate the World Cup in 2014 and the Rio
Olympics in 2016, but also to establish Brazil's regional leadership
in this area. TSA's holistic approach to engagement with Brazil on
this sensitive subject has generated excellent progress to date. By
updating MRE on the negotiations with ANAC and working closely with
ANAC to internally build support with MRE, the visit yielded
productive results in moving aviation security cooperation forward.
Post recommends that this approach continue to be used during future
TSA discussions in Brazil, which stands a good chance of success as
we seek to deepen the Brazil-United States relationship on aviation
security. End Comment.
KUBISKE