99 Brasilia 02706: Consequences and Implications of Kosovo: Brazil

Note:  Sometimes, for various reasons, cables are repeated.  This one was in response to a general request for reactions to events surrounding the NATO intervention in Kosovo and had originally be sent by my predecessor. 

99 Brasilia 02698: Tri-Border Brazil Update

99 Brasilia 02658: Amazon Research Intensifies As Concerns Over Susceptability to Fire Continue in the Aftermath of the 1998 El Nino Drought

99 Brasilia: Various Cities in Sao Paulo State Attempt to Curb Corruption

 

The chief political officer in the Embassy classified this cable which was produced by his section with input, no doubt, from AmConsul Sao Paulo.  The political section of a post keeps track of local politics to keep Washington informed.  Do we need posts everywhere to do this and carry out other officials functions?  Read: http://realdiplomacy.blogspot.com/2016/03/us-foreign-policy-for-21st-century_14.html

99 Brasilia 02633: Biographic Material on New Main Cabinet Members

Note:  A continuing embassy function it to provide basic information on senior officials of the host government.  This information will often go into briefing memos for use by US officials when they meet counterparts.

99 Brasilia 2630: MINURCA: Proposed Expansion and Extension

Note: MINURCA was the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic, and it was extended until 2000.

A Doonsebury Portrait of a Political Ambassador

 From 1989 but still, perhaps, sometimes accurate.

From Journal Entries for July 10 & 11, 1999: Getting settled

July 1O: The transition to Brazil has almost been too easy. The house is great, the weather fine, [wife and son] are here, and I am in charge. Still I wonder what I'm doing here. Why come to a foreign land, why represent the United States, why think my way into other folk's reality, why try to explain it to the folks back home? ...

July 11: It is a little after noon and ... I just came in from a dip in the pool and we are all resting after a morning of tennis at the Ambassador’s residence. Shortly, we will be picked up by my driver and go to a “churrascaria tipo rodizio” for lunch. That’s where they bring around an endless round of barbecued meats and other stuff and you eat until you are “satisfeito.”.... 

I continued to get my hands around the Mission, engaging on several fronts and making – I hope – some headway on resolving our problems with the government over counter-narcotics cooperation. Everyone encouraged me to cut back on meetings, which I could easily do since there were too many. For a while at least, I seem to be popular. Gave my first reception on Tuesday and it went well. With staff and my protocol chief to do all the work, it was pretty easy to put together. We have some high level visitors coming over the next several weeks and we’ll have some more entertaining to do.

99 Brasilia 02626: Brazilian Congress

99 Brasilia 02621: Translated "O Globo" Opinion Piece

Note:  Often, and especially in an advanced, sophisticated country such as Brazil, some of the best political analysis is open source.  Of course, one must also be aware of where an author is coming from.