Cable Viewer

Currently released so far... 19723 / 251,287

### Articles

Brazil Sri Lanka United Kingdom Sweden 00. Editorial United States Latin America Egypt Jordan Yemen Thailand

### Browse latest releases

2010/11 2010/12 2011/01 2011/02 2011/03 2011/04 2011/05 2011/06 2011/07 2011/08
2010/11/28 2010/11/29 2010/11/30
2010/12/01 2010/12/02 2010/12/03 2010/12/04 2010/12/05 2010/12/06 2010/12/07 2010/12/08 2010/12/09 2010/12/10 2010/12/11 2010/12/12 2010/12/13 2010/12/14 2010/12/15 2010/12/16 2010/12/17 2010/12/18 2010/12/19 2010/12/20 2010/12/21 2010/12/22 2010/12/23 2010/12/24 2010/12/25 2010/12/26 2010/12/27 2010/12/28 2010/12/29 2010/12/30
2011/01/01 2011/01/02 2011/01/04 2011/01/05 2011/01/07 2011/01/09 2011/01/11 2011/01/12 2011/01/13 2011/01/14 2011/01/15 2011/01/16 2011/01/17 2011/01/18 2011/01/19 2011/01/20 2011/01/21 2011/01/22 2011/01/23 2011/01/24 2011/01/25 2011/01/26 2011/01/27 2011/01/28 2011/01/29 2011/01/30 2011/01/31
2011/02/01 2011/02/02 2011/02/03 2011/02/04 2011/02/05 2011/02/06 2011/02/07 2011/02/08 2011/02/09 2011/02/10 2011/02/11 2011/02/12 2011/02/13 2011/02/14 2011/02/15 2011/02/16 2011/02/17 2011/02/18 2011/02/19 2011/02/20 2011/02/21 2011/02/22 2011/02/23 2011/02/24 2011/02/25 2011/02/26 2011/02/27 2011/02/28
2011/03/01 2011/03/02 2011/03/03 2011/03/04 2011/03/05 2011/03/06 2011/03/07 2011/03/08 2011/03/09 2011/03/10 2011/03/11 2011/03/13 2011/03/14 2011/03/15 2011/03/16 2011/03/17 2011/03/18 2011/03/19 2011/03/20 2011/03/21 2011/03/22 2011/03/23 2011/03/24 2011/03/25 2011/03/26 2011/03/27 2011/03/28 2011/03/29 2011/03/30 2011/03/31
2011/04/01 2011/04/02 2011/04/03 2011/04/04 2011/04/05 2011/04/06 2011/04/07 2011/04/08 2011/04/09 2011/04/10 2011/04/11 2011/04/12 2011/04/13 2011/04/14 2011/04/15 2011/04/16 2011/04/17 2011/04/18 2011/04/19 2011/04/20 2011/04/21 2011/04/22 2011/04/23 2011/04/24 2011/04/25 2011/04/26 2011/04/27 2011/04/28 2011/04/29 2011/04/30
2011/05/01 2011/05/02 2011/05/03 2011/05/04 2011/05/05 2011/05/06 2011/05/07 2011/05/08 2011/05/09 2011/05/10 2011/05/11 2011/05/12 2011/05/13 2011/05/14 2011/05/15 2011/05/16 2011/05/17 2011/05/18 2011/05/19 2011/05/20 2011/05/21 2011/05/22 2011/05/23 2011/05/24 2011/05/25 2011/05/26 2011/05/27 2011/05/28 2011/05/29 2011/05/30 2011/05/31
2011/06/01 2011/06/02 2011/06/03 2011/06/04 2011/06/05 2011/06/06 2011/06/07 2011/06/08 2011/06/09 2011/06/10 2011/06/11 2011/06/12 2011/06/13 2011/06/14 2011/06/15 2011/06/16 2011/06/17 2011/06/18 2011/06/19 2011/06/20 2011/06/21 2011/06/22 2011/06/23 2011/06/24 2011/06/25 2011/06/26 2011/06/27 2011/06/28 2011/06/29 2011/06/30
2011/07/01 2011/07/02 2011/07/04 2011/07/05 2011/07/06 2011/07/07 2011/07/08 2011/07/10 2011/07/11 2011/07/12 2011/07/13 2011/07/14 2011/07/15 2011/07/16 2011/07/17 2011/07/18 2011/07/19 2011/07/20 2011/07/21 2011/07/22 2011/07/23 2011/07/25 2011/07/27 2011/07/28 2011/07/29 2011/07/31
2011/08/01 2011/08/02 2011/08/03 2011/08/05 2011/08/06 2011/08/07 2011/08/08 2011/08/09 2011/08/10 2011/08/11 2011/08/12

### Browse by creation date

66 72 73 75 79 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
1966/12
1972/02 1972/08
1973/04
1975/03
1979/08
1985/03 1985/05 1985/06
1986/05 1986/08 1986/12
1987/06
1988/01 1988/03 1988/04 1988/07 1988/08 1988/12
1989/12
1990/01 1990/07 1990/08 1990/10
1991/05 1991/07 1991/11
1992/01 1992/03 1992/06 1992/09 1992/11 1992/12
1993/01 1993/02 1993/10
1994/11 1994/12
1995/01 1995/04 1995/06 1995/11
1996/07 1996/09 1996/11
1997/02 1997/03 1997/05 1997/06 1997/08 1997/10 1997/12
1998/05 1998/12
1999/01 1999/09
2000/05 2000/06 2000/09 2000/11 2000/12
2001/02 2001/03 2001/04 2001/05 2001/06 2001/07 2001/09 2001/10 2001/11 2001/12
2002/01 2002/02 2002/03 2002/04 2002/06 2002/07 2002/08 2002/09 2002/11 2002/12
2003/01 2003/02 2003/03 2003/04 2003/05 2003/06 2003/07 2003/08 2003/09 2003/10 2003/11 2003/12
2004/01 2004/02 2004/03 2004/04 2004/05 2004/06 2004/07 2004/08 2004/09 2004/10 2004/11 2004/12
2005/01 2005/02 2005/03 2005/04 2005/05 2005/06 2005/07 2005/08 2005/09 2005/10 2005/11 2005/12
2006/01 2006/02 2006/03 2006/04 2006/05 2006/06 2006/07 2006/08 2006/09 2006/10 2006/11 2006/12
2007/01 2007/02 2007/03 2007/04 2007/05 2007/06 2007/07 2007/08 2007/09 2007/10 2007/11 2007/12
2008/01 2008/02 2008/03 2008/04 2008/05 2008/06 2008/07 2008/08 2008/09 2008/10 2008/11 2008/12
2009/01 2009/02 2009/03 2009/04 2009/05 2009/06 2009/07 2009/08 2009/09 2009/10 2009/11 2009/12
2010/01 2010/02

### Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z
Embassy Athens Embassy Asuncion Embassy Astana Embassy Asmara Embassy Ashgabat Embassy Apia Embassy Ankara Embassy Amman Embassy Algiers Embassy Addis Ababa Embassy Accra Embassy Abuja Embassy Abu Dhabi Embassy Abidjan Consulate Auckland Consulate Amsterdam Consulate Adana American Institute Taiwan, Taipei
Embassy Bujumbura Embassy Buenos Aires Embassy Budapest Embassy Bucharest Embassy Brussels Embassy Bridgetown Embassy Bratislava Embassy Brasilia Embassy Bogota Embassy Bishkek Embassy Bern Embassy Berlin Embassy Belmopan Embassy Belgrade Embassy Beirut Embassy Beijing Embassy Banjul Embassy Bangkok Embassy Bandar Seri Begawan Embassy Bamako Embassy Baku Embassy Baghdad Consulate Belfast Consulate Barcelona
Embassy Copenhagen Embassy Conakry Embassy Colombo Embassy Chisinau Embassy Caracas Embassy Canberra Embassy Cairo Consulate Curacao Consulate Ciudad Juarez Consulate Chiang Mai Consulate Chennai Consulate Casablanca Consulate Cape Town Consulate Calgary
Embassy Dushanbe Embassy Dublin Embassy Doha Embassy Djibouti Embassy Dili Embassy Dhaka Embassy Dar Es Salaam Embassy Damascus Embassy Dakar Consulate Dubai Consulate Dhahran
Embassy Freetown Consulate Fukuoka
Embassy Guatemala Embassy Gaborone Consulate Guayaquil Consulate Guangzhou Consulate Guadalajara
Embassy Helsinki Embassy Harare Embassy Hanoi Consulate Hong Kong Consulate Ho Chi Minh City Consulate Hermosillo Consulate Hamilton Consulate Hamburg Consulate Halifax
Iran RPO Dubai Embassy Islamabad Consulate Istanbul
Embassy Jakarta Consulate Jerusalem Consulate Jeddah
Embassy Kyiv Embassy Kuwait Embassy Kuala Lumpur Embassy Kinshasa Embassy Kingston Embassy Kigali Embassy Khartoum Embassy Kathmandu Embassy Kampala Embassy Kabul Consulate Kolkata Consulate Karachi
Embassy Luxembourg Embassy Luanda Embassy London Embassy Ljubljana Embassy Lisbon Embassy Lima Embassy Lilongwe Embassy Libreville Embassy La Paz Consulate Lahore Consulate Lagos
Mission USOSCE Mission USNATO Mission UNESCO Mission Geneva Embassy Muscat Embassy Moscow Embassy Montevideo Embassy Monrovia Embassy Minsk Embassy Mexico Embassy Mbabane Embassy Maseru Embassy Maputo Embassy Manila Embassy Manama Embassy Managua Embassy Malabo Embassy Madrid Consulate Munich Consulate Mumbai Consulate Montreal Consulate Monterrey Consulate Milan Consulate Melbourne Consulate Matamoros
Embassy Nicosia Embassy Niamey Embassy New Delhi Embassy Ndjamena Embassy Nassau Embassy Nairobi Consulate Nuevo Laredo Consulate Naples Consulate Naha Consulate Nagoya
Embassy Ouagadougou Embassy Ottawa Embassy Oslo
Embassy Pristina Embassy Pretoria Embassy Prague Embassy Port Of Spain Embassy Port Louis Embassy Port Au Prince Embassy Phnom Penh Embassy Paris Embassy Paramaribo Embassy Panama Consulate Peshawar
Embassy Quito Consulate Quebec
REO Basrah Embassy Rome Embassy Riyadh Embassy Riga Embassy Reykjavik Embassy Rangoon Embassy Rabat Consulate Rio De Janeiro Consulate Recife
Secretary of State Embassy Suva Embassy Stockholm Embassy Sofia Embassy Skopje Embassy Singapore Embassy Seoul Embassy Sarajevo Embassy Santo Domingo Embassy Santiago Embassy Sanaa Embassy San Salvador Embassy San Jose Consulate Strasbourg Consulate St Petersburg Consulate Shenyang Consulate Shanghai Consulate Sapporo Consulate Sao Paulo
Embassy Tunis Embassy Tripoli Embassy Tokyo Embassy The Hague Embassy Tel Aviv Embassy Tehran Embassy Tegucigalpa Embassy Tbilisi Embassy Tashkent Embassy Tallinn Consulate Toronto Consulate Tijuana Consulate Thessaloniki
USUN New York USEU Brussels US Office Almaty US Mission Geneva US Interests Section Havana US Delegation, Secretary UNVIE UN Rome Embassy Ulaanbaatar
Embassy Vilnius Embassy Vientiane Embassy Vienna Embassy Vatican Embassy Valletta Consulate Vladivostok Consulate Vancouver
Embassy Windhoek Embassy Wellington Embassy Warsaw
Embassy Yerevan Embassy Yaounde
Embassy Zagreb

### Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
ASEC AEMR AMGT AR APECO AU AORC AJ AF AFIN AS AM ABLD AFFAIRS AMB APER AA AE ATRN ADM ACOA AID AY AG ALOW AND ABUD AMED ASPA AL APEC ADPM ADANA AFSI ARABL ADCO ANARCHISTS AZ ANET AMEDCASCKFLO AADP AO AGRICULTURE ASEAN ACABQ ARF APRC AFSN AFSA AORG AINF AINR AODE APCS AROC ARCH AGAO ADB AX AMEX ASUP ARM AQ ATFN AMBASSADOR ARAS ACBAQ AC AOPR AREP ASIG ASEX AER AVERY ASCH AFU AMG ATPDEA ASECKFRDCVISKIRFPHUMSMIGEG AORL AN AIT AGMT ACS AGR AMCHAMS AECL AUC AFGHANISTAN ACAO
BR BB BG BEXP BY BA BRUSSELS BU BD BK BL BE BO BTIO BH BM BAIO BRPA BUSH BILAT BF BX BMGT BOL BC BIDEN BP BBG BBSR BT BWC BEXPC BN BTIU
CPAS CA CASC CS CBW CIDA CO CODEL CI CROS CU CH CWC CMGT CVIS CDG CG CF CHIEF CJAN CBSA CE CY CB CW CM CHR CD CT CDC CONS CAMBODIA CN CR COUNTRY CONDOLEEZZA CZ CARICOM COM CICTE CYPRUS CBE CACS COE CIVS CFED COUNTER COPUOS CARSON CAPC CV CTR CITES CKGR CVR CLINTON COUNTERTERRORISM CITEL CLEARANCE CSW CIC CITT CARIB CAFTA CACM CDB CJUS CTM CAN CAJC CONSULAR CLMT CBC CIA CNARC CIS CEUDA CHINA CAC CL
DR DJ DB DHS DAO DCM DO DEFENSE DA DK DOMESTIC DE DISENGAGEMENT DOD DOT DPRK DEPT DEA DOE DTRA DS DEAX
ECON ETTC EFIS ETRD EC EMIN EAGR EAID EU EFIN EUN ECIN EG EWWT EINV ENRG ELAB EPET EN EAIR EUMEM ECPS ELTN EIND EZ EI ER ET EINT ECONOMIC ENIV EFTA ES EET ECONOMY ENV EAG ELECTIONS ESTH ETRO ECIP EPEC EXIM ENERG ECCT EREL EK EDEV ERNG ENGY EPA ETRAD ELTNSNAR ENGR ETRC ELAP EUREM EEB EETC ECOSOC ENVI EXTERNAL ELN ETRDEINVECINPGOVCS EAIDS EDU EPREL EINVEFIN ECA EFINECONCS EIDN EINVKSCA ETC ENVR EAP EINN EXBS ECONOMICS EIAR EINDETRD ECONEFIN EURN ETRDEINVTINTCS EFIM EINVETC ECONCS EDRC ENRD EBRD ETRA ESA EAIG EUR EUC ERD ETRN EINVECONSENVCSJA EEPET EUNCH ESENV ENNP ECINECONCS ETRDECONWTOCS ECUN
FR FI FOREIGN FAO FREEDOM FARC FAS FINANCE FBI FTAA FCS FAA FJ FTA FK FT FAC FDA FINR FM FOR FOI FO FMLN FISO
GM GERARD GT GA GG GR GTIP GE GH GY GB GLOBAL GEORGE GCC GC GV GAZA GL GOV GOI GF GTMO GANGS GAERC GZ GUILLERMO GASPAR
HR HA HYMPSK HO HK HUMAN HN HUD HU HURI HILLARY HI HUM HSTC HEBRON HUMOR
IZ IN IAEA IS IMO ILO IR IC IT ITU IV IMF IBRD IWC IPR IRAQI IDB ISRAELI ITALY ITPGOV ITALIAN IADB ID ICAO ICRC INR IO IFAD ICJ IRAQ INL INMARSAT INRA INTERNAL INTELSAT ILC INDO IRS IIP ITRA IQ IEFIN ICTY ISCON IAHRC IA INTERPOL IEA INRB ISRAEL IZPREL IRAJ IF ITPHUM IL IACI IDA ISLAMISTS IGAD ITF INRO IBET IDP ICTR IRC
JA JO JM JP JOHN JUS JAMES JOSEPH JOHNNIE JML JIMENEZ
KOMC KNNP KFLO KDEM KSUM KIPR KFLU KPAO KE KCRM KJUS KAWC KZ KSCA KDRG KCOR KGHG KPAL KTIP KMCA KCRS KPKO KOLY KRVC KVPR KG KWBG KMDR KTER KSPR KV KTFN KWMN KFRD KSTH KS KN KISL KGIC KSEP KFIN KTEX KTIA KUNR KCMR KMOC KCIP KTDB KBIO KSAF KU KHIV KNNNP KSTC KNUP KIRF KIRC KHLS KIDE KTDD KMPI KSEO KSCS KICC KCFE KNUC KGLB KIVP KPWR KR KCOM KESS KCSY KWN KREL KRFD KBCT KREC KICCPUR KFRDCVISCMGTCASCKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KOCI KGIT KMCC KPRP KPRV KAUST KPAOPREL KCRIM KIRP KLAB KHSA KPAONZ KCRCM KICA KHDP KNAR KINR KGHA KPAOY KTRD KTAO KWAC KJUST KACT KSCI KNPP KMRS KHUM KTBT KNNPMNUC KBTS KERG KPIR KTLA KNDP KAID KAWK KO KFSC KENV KX KVRP KPOA KMFO KVIR KRCM KCFC KNEI KCHG KPLS KFTFN KTFM KLIG KDEMAF KRAD KBTR KGCC KSEC KPIN KDEV KWWMN KOM KWNM KFRDKIRFCVISCMGTKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KRGY KIFR KSAC KWMNCS KPAK KOMS KFPC KRIM KDDG KCGC KPAI KID KMIG KNSD KWMM
LY LE LABOR LH LAB LI LTTE LO LU LA LVPR LT LG LOG
MARR MX MASS MOPS MNUC MCAP MTCRE MRCRE MTRE MASC MY MK MCC MO MAS MZ MCA MIL MU ML MTCR MEPP MG MI MINUSTAH MP MA MD MAR MAPP MR MOPPS MTS MLS MILI MEPN MEPI MEETINGS MERCOSUR MW MT MIK MN MAPS MV MILITARY MARAD MDC MACEDONIA MASSMNUC MUCN MEDIA MQADHAFI MPOS MPS MC
NZ NATO NI NO NU NG NL NPT NS NSF NA NP NATIONAL NASA NDP NIH NC NIPP NSSP NEGROPONTE NK NE NAS NATOIRAQ NGO NR NAR NZUS NARC NH NSG NAFTA NEW NRR NT NOVO NATOPREL NEA NSC NV NPA NSFO NW NORAD NPG NOAA
OTRA OECD OVIP OREP OPRC ODC OIIP OPDC OAS OSCE OPIC OMS OEXC OPCW OIE OSCI OPAD ODIP OM OFDP OFFICIALS OEXP OPEC ODPC OVIPPRELUNGANU OSHA OSIC OHUM OTR OMIG OSAC OBSP OFDA OVP ON OCII OES OCS OIC
PGOV PREL PARM PINR PHUM PM PREF PTER PK PINS PBIO PHSA PE PBTS PL POL PAK POV POLITICS POLICY PA PNAT PALESTINIAN PCI PAS PO PROV PH PROP PERM PETR PRELBR POLITICAL PJUS PREZ PAO PRELPK PAIGH PROG PMAR PU PG PDOV PTE PGOVSOCI PMIL PY PGOR PBTSRU PRAM PARMS PGOF PTERE PERL PREO PINO PSI PPA PRGOV PORG PP PS PKFK PSOE PEPR PDEM PINT PRELP PREFA PNG PTBS PFOR PUNE PGOVLO PHUMBA POLINT PGOVE PHALANAGE PARTY PECON PLN PHUH PEDRO PF PHUS PETER PARTIES PCUL PGGV PSA PGOVSMIGKCRMKWMNPHUMCVISKFRDCA PGIV PHUMPREL POGOV PEL PINL PBT PINF PRL PSEPC POSTS PAHO PHUMPGOV PGOC PNR
QA
RS RP RU RW RFE RCMP RIGHTSPOLMIL RO ROBERT RM ROOD RICE REGION RELAM RSP RF RELATIONS RIGHTS RUPREL REMON RPEL REACTION REPORT RSO
SZ SENV SOCI SNAR SY SO SP SU SI SMIG SYR SA SCUL SW SR SYRIA SNARM SPECIALIST SG SENS SF SEN SENVEAGREAIDTBIOECONSOCIXR SN SC SNA SK SL SANC SMIL SCRM SENVSXE SAARC STEINBERG SCRS SARS SWE SENVQGR SNARIZ SAN ST SIPDIS SSA SPCVIS SOFA SENVKGHG SHI SEVN SHUM SH SNARCS SPCE SNARN SIPRS
TRGY TBIO TSPA TU TPHY TI TX TH TIP TSPL TNGD TS TW TRSY TZ TN TINT TC TR TIO TF TK TRAD TT TWI TD TERRORISM TP TL TV TO TURKEY TSPAM TREL TRT TFIN TAGS THPY TBID
UK UNSC UNGA UN US UZ USEU UG UP UNAUS UNMIK USTR UY UNSCR UNRCR UNESCO UNICEF USPS UNHCR UNHRC UNFICYP UNCSD UNEP USAID UV UNDP UNTAC USDA USUN UNMIC UNCHR UNCTAD UR USGS USNC UA USOAS UE UNVIE UAE UNO UNODC UNCHS UNDESCO UNC UNPUOS UNDC UNCHC UNFCYP UNIDROIT UNCND
VE VM VT VZ VEPREL VN VTEG VTIZ VTPREL VISIT VENZ VAT VC VI
WHTI WIPO WTRO WTO WHO WFP WS WA WZ WI WMD WBG WWARD WHA WITH WTRQ WEU WMO WB
XA XW XX XK XL XM XS XF XR XY XG XT XC XH XD XE XV XB XU XZ XQ XI XTAG
YI YM YE YL YMCS
ZU ZI ZOELLICK ZP ZR ZO ZK ZF ZL ZB ZN ZH ZT ZJ ZEALAND ZA ZANU

### Browse by classification

CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN SECRET SECRET//NOFORN UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

### Community resources

Follow us on Twitter Check our Reddit Twitter this Digg this page Contact us on IRC

courage is contagious

### Viewing cable 08BRASILIA1572, SOUTH AMERICA ESTH NEWS, NUMBER 115

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs
Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:

- The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
- The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
- The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.

To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.
Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #08BRASILIA1572.

Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
08BRASILIA1572 | 2008-12-08 18:16 | 2011-07-11 00:00 | UNCLASSIFIED | Embassy Brasilia

`

    VZCZCXRO1117
    RR RUEHAST RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHTM
    DE RUEHBR #1572/01 3431816
    ZNR UUUUU ZZH
    R 081816Z DEC 08
    FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3051
    INFO RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
    RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 7242
    RUEHGE/AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN 1619
    RUEHPO/AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO 1695
    RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 8782
    RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 3168
    RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 6959
    RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASH DC
    RHEBAAA/DOE WASHDC
    RUEHC/DOI WASHDC
    RUEAWJA/DOJ WASHDC
    RUEAEPA/HQ EPA WASHDC
    RUEANAT/NASA HQ WASHDC
    RUCPDC/NOAA WASHDC
    RUMIAAA/USCINCSO MIAMI FL
    RUEHRC/USDA WASHDC
    RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC

` `

    UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 12 BRASILIA 001572

    SIPDIS

    DEPT PASS USAID TO LAC/RSD, LAC/SAM, G/ENV, PPC/ENV
    TREASURY FOR USED IBRD AND IDB AND INTL/MDB
    USDA FOR FOREST SERVICE: LIZ MAHEW
    INTERIOR FOR DIR INT AFFAIRS: K WASHBURN
    INTERIOR FOR FWS: TOM RILEY
    INTERIOR FOR NPS: JONATHAN PUTNAM
    INTERIOR PASS USGS FOR INTERNATIONAL: J WEAVER
    JUSTICE FOR ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES: JWEBB
    EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL: CAM HILL-MACON
    USDA FOR ARS/INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH: G FLANLEY
    NSF FOR INTERNATIONAL: HAROLD STOLBERG

    E.O. 12958: N/A
    TAGS: SENV EAGR EAID TBIO ECON SOCI XR BR
    SUBJECT: SOUTH AMERICA ESTH NEWS, NUMBER 115

    BRASILIA 00001572  001.2 OF 012

    ¶1.  The following is part of a series of newsletters, published by
    the Brasilia Regional Environmental Hub, covering environment,
    science and technology, and health news in South America.  The
    information below was gathered from news sources from across the
    region, and the views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of
    the Hub office or our constituent posts.  Addressees who would like
    to receive a user-friendly email version of this newsletter should
    contact Larissa Stoner at stonerla@state.gov.  The e-mail version
    also contains a calendar of upcoming ESTH events in the region.
    NOTE: THE NEWSLETTER IS NOW ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE BRASILIA INTRANET
    PAGE, BY CLICKING ON THE 'HUB' LINK.

    ¶2. Table of Contents

    Agriculture
    --(3)Argentina: Rice Plantation Plan Goes Against the Grain

    Forests
    --(4)Paraguay: Uncontacted Indigenous People Threatened by
    Deforestation
    --(5)Brazil Mob Attacks Environmental Police in Amazon

    Wildlife
    --(6)Venezuela: Hunting Pushes Bird to extinction

    Protected Areas
    --(7)The Nature Conservancy to Target Argentine Grasslands
    --(8)Petrobras Drops Plans to Drill in Yasuni Park in Ecuador

    Science & Technology
    --(9)Brazil Goes High-Tech in Bid to Protect Vulnerable Amazon
    Tribes

    Pollution
    --(10)Diesel Vehicle, Fuels Accord Struck In Brazil
    --(11)Argentina: Mandatory Environmental Insurance on Way
    --(12)Peru's New Ministry Unveils Air Standards
    --(13)No Let-Up in Battle over Ecuador's Oilfield Pollution

    Climate Change
    --(14)Three U.S. States Partner with Six Other Foreign States to
    combat deforestation
    --(15)Climate-Policy Changes Awaited From Obama
    --(16)Argentina: Cattle Gas Emissions Account for 30% of GHG
    Emissions, Says Study

    Energy
    --(17)Brazil to Build 5 New Hydroelectric Plants in the Amazon
    --(18)Chile's Codelco Withdraws Thermoelectric Project
    --(19)Chile Bets on Rapeseed to Produce Biodiesel
    --(20)Huge Coal Plant Approved in Chile's Region VII
    --(21)Brazil Needs to Find Long-Term Solution to Nuclear Waste
    --(22)After Trip To Russia, Chvez Charts Nuclear Course

    Infrastructure Development
    --(23)Oil and Gas Projects Proliferate In Western Amazon
    --(24)Controversial Colombian Port Project Is On
    Extractive Industries
    --(25)World's Biggest Coal Mine Is Slated for Northern Colombia

    General
    --(26)Decrees Affecting Indigenous Lands Are Overturned In Peru
    --(27)Peru: Free Trade Opens Environmental Window

    BRASILIA 00001572  002.2 OF 012

    --(28)Global Financial Crisis a Bad Sign for Andean Biodiversity

    -----------
    Agriculture
    -----------

    ¶3. Argentina: Rice Plantation Plan Goes Against the Grain
    OCT. 2008 - A private consortium's plans to build a dam in
    Argentina's Corrientes Province and flood 20,000 acres (8,000
    hectares) as part of a huge commercial rice-farming project have
    stirred growing opposition.  Critics fear the project will
    contribute to an expansion of intensive, chemical-based agriculture
    in Corrientes that eventually could encroach upon the Ibera Natural
    Reserve, a spectacular 5,000-square-mile (13,000-sq-km) network of
    wetlands that accounts for 15% of Corrientes Province's land area.
    The reserve, a portion of which is included on the Ramsar List of
    Wetlands of International Importance, lies 30 miles (50 kms)
    upstream of the dam site.  Fueling more immediate concern are the
    project's expected local impacts, which would include inundation of
    an area prized for its grassland, forest and native fauna. Such
    criticism appears to have struck a chord with some in the national
    government. Responding this month to a letter of concern from
    members of the lower house of the National Congress, Argentine
    Environment Minister Romina Picolotti wrote that she has called on
    [Corrientes Governor, Arturo] Colombi to discuss the matter with
    Corrientes environmental officials. Picolotti stated: "This
    secretariat looks with serious concern at the realization of this
    type of mega-project, which is likely to generate deep negative
    impacts on [ecosystems] of incalculable value."
    Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
    article)

    -------
    Forests
    -------

    ¶4. Paraguay: Uncontacted Indigenous People Threatened by
    Deforestation
    NOV. 27, 2008- Large swathes of native forest have been turned into
    pasture land in the northern part of Paraguay's semi-arid Chaco
    region, as large Brazilian cattle ranchers expand their property in
    the country.  The ranchers and landowning companies are encroaching
    on the territory of the Ayoreo-Totobiegosode Indians, and the
    destruction of forests is threatening the natural and cultural
    heritage of the nomadic indigenous group, some of whom still live in
    voluntary isolation in the forest. "Our situation is very worrisome,
    because we still have relatives who do not want to be in contact
    with white society," Porai Picanerai, a leader of the Payipie
    Ichadie Totobiegosode Organization (OPIT -- New Totobiegosode
    Thinking), told IPS.  The Totobiegosode form part of the larger
    Ayoreo ethnic group.  In early November, there were reports that
    some uncontacted members of the group had been seen in a deforested
    area that belongs to Brazilian landowners, on the edge of the
    indigenous group's protected territory.  Until December 1986,
    Picanerai was living in the bush in the northern department
    (province) of Alto Paraguay, which is part of the Chaco region -- a
    vast area of dense, scrubby forest that covers western Paraguay and
    parts of Bolivia and Argentina.
    Source - IPS News

    ¶5. Brazil Mob Attacks Environmental Police in Amazon
    NOV. 25, 2008 - A mob of about 3,000 people enraged by a crackdown
    on illegal logging trashed a government office in a remote jungle

    BRASILIA 00001572  003.2 OF 012

    city of Brazil and tried to attack environmental workers, according
    to press reports.  Environment Minister Carlos Minc sent federal
    police to the northeastern town of Paragominas following the riot,
    which was prompted by the seizure of 400 cubic meters (14,124 cubic
    feet) of wood believed to have been cut inside an Indian
    reservation.  Many residents of the Amazon deeply resent - and
    sometimes attack - environmental officials who try to block logging
    that provides income for rich and poor alike.  Paragominas is about
    150 kilometers (90 miles) from the small city of Tailandia, where a
    mob of 2,000 rioted over wood seizures in February, forcing
    environmental authorities to leave the city for days.  Minc said the
    new riot would not stop efforts to control illegal logging: "To the
    contrary, we're going to intensify operations and we'll punish those
    who are responsible".
    Source - Miami Herald

    --------
    Wildlife
    --------

    ¶6. Venezuela: Hunting Pushes Bird to extinction
    NOV. 24, 2008.- The scarlet finch, also known as the red siskin
    (Carduelis cucullata), a small bird native to northern Venezuela, is
    on the verge of disappearing and is rarely seen in the wild because
    poachers capture these birds to cross them with canaries in order to
    produce red offspring. The hybrid "is red like the finch and sings
    like a canary, which is why hunters capture the few that are left in
    order to sell them to people who raise canaries. It is an illegal
    but very profitable practice," researcher Jon Paul Rodriguez,
    co-author of the Red Book of Venezuelan Fauna, told Tierramerica. Of
    the 3,625 species evaluated in that book, 202 are threatened with
    extinction due to loss of habitat, hunting, pollution, changes in
    population dynamic, invasive species, human activities or natural
    disasters.
    Source - Tierramerica

    ---------------
    Protected Areas
    ---------------

    ¶7. The Nature Conservancy to Target Argentine Grasslands
    NOV. 2008 - The Nature Conservancy's new Argentina office was opened
    in the southern Andean tourism city of Bariloche. The group plans to
    work with ranchers and research institutions to promote sustainable
    livestock operations in the region. The Nature Conservancy also aims
    to push for the creation of new protected areas on public and
    private lands.  Temperate grasslands, which harbor biodiversity,
    store carbon and help stave off desertification. Such grasslands
    have come under pressure in Argentina for reasons ranging from the
    spread of monoculture farming to unsustainable ranching.  Though
    Uruguay and Brazil possess significant amounts of temperate
    grassland, Argentina has the greatest expanse of the habitat, which
    The Nature Conservancy describes as among the least protected in the
    world (less than 2.9% of the 395 million acres are protected).
    Source - EcoAmericas

    ¶8. Petrobras Drops Plans to Drill in Yasuni Park in Ecuador
    OCT. 2008 - The state-owned Brazilian oil company Petrobras is
    giving up a drilling concession area that had become highly
    controversial because nearly three-quarters of it is located in a
    prized national park in the Ecuadorian Amazon.  The action, however,
    owes as much to economics as environmental opposition, analysts say,
    leaving open the possibility that oil exploration might still be

    BRASILIA 00001572  004.2 OF 012

    carried out elsewhere  within the 497,917-acre (201,500-ha)
    concession area. Under an agreement negotiated with the Ecuadorian
    government last month, Petrobras is relinquishing its rights to the
    area, called Bloc 31, all but 28% of which lies within the borders
    of Yasuni National Park. Petrobras acquired the concession from the
    Argentine company Perez Companc in 2002, which ostensibly gave it a
    22-year period in which to carry out oil exploration and production
    in Bloc 31. Environmental advocates applaud the company's
    about-face, though they emphasize that the government of President
    Rafael Correa must now ensure the land remains protected.
    Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
    article)

    --------------------
    Science & Technology
    --------------------

    ¶9. Brazil Goes High-Tech in Bid to Protect Vulnerable Amazon Tribes
    DEC. 02, 2008 - The Brazilian government's National Indian
    Foundation (Funai) recently said it would conduct flyovers in
    Amazonia, where it suspects Indians might be in danger from
    encroaching farmers, loggers and miners.  Military planes flying at
    high altitude will use radar, satellite, and infrared technology
    that can identify humans and their communities through their body
    heat, Funai and military officials said.  If pilot programs
    scheduled for next year are successful, the high-tech equipment
    could prove an indispensable weapon in protecting vulnerable tribes.
    "This is one of the tools to help us find and confirm the existence
    of isolated Indians," says Antenor Vaz, coordinator of the isolated
    Indians division at Funai and an experienced Amazonian explorer. "It
    will let us know where they are and what kind of environment they
    are in. We can determine if they are in danger; if there are
    ranchers or miners close to them."  The heat-sensitive technology
    will be used on three planes that can fly at altitudes up to 36,000
    feet, says Wougran Galvao, the product director at Sipam, the
    government's Amazonian monitoring agency. Such technology has
    already been used successfully in conjunction with satellite and
    radar imagery. But the upcoming tests will mark the first time it
    has been tapped to find humans.
    Source - Yahoo

    ---------
    Pollution
    ---------

    ¶10. Diesel Vehicle, Fuels Accord Struck In Brazil
    NOV. 2008 - After intense legal infighting, Brazil has unveiled a
    schedule for cutting sulfur concentrations in diesel fuels and
    introducing lower-emission diesel buses and trucks.
    Environmentalists complain that the complex, six-year phase-in of
    lower-sulfur fuels is too gradual, unduly compromising air quality
    and public health. But officials who negotiated the deal with the
    state oil company Petrobras, vehicle manufacturers, and other
    stakeholders stand by the accord. "With the agreement in place,
    pollution levels will drop, especially in metropolitan areas, even
    if not as quickly as we and others would have liked," says Sco Paulo
    federal prosecutor Ana Cristina Bandeira Lins. "Given the situation,
    we got the best deal we could."  Under the deal, Petrobras will
    lower the sulfur content in the two diesel fuels sold in
    Brazil-S-2000, in which sulfur measures 2,000 parts per million
    (ppm), and S-500, in which sulfur levels are 500 ppm. S-500, which
    accounts for 25% of diesel sold, is available in Brazil's 14 biggest
    cities, where air pollution is worst. S-2000 is available in

    BRASILIA 00001572  005.2 OF 012

    virtually all other areas of Brazil, accounting for 75% of diesel
    sold.   Diesel is only used by trucks and buses in Brazil; by law,
    ethanol and gasoline are the only fuels allowed for passenger cars.
    Due to distribution bottlenecks cited by Petrobras, the sulfur-fuels
    agreement only applies to buses in the case of existing
    vehicles-except in three northern cities, where it also covers
    existing trucks.  NOTE FROM HUB: Santiago current standards are
    50ppm; target is to reach 10ppm by 2012 in Santiago and 50ppm in the
    countryside.  FYI - US current standard is 15ppm. END NOTE.
    Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
    article)

    ¶11. Argentina: Mandatory Environmental Insurance on Way
    NOV. 2008 - Argentina is preparing to require that companies
    involved in pollution-prone activities take out insurance to cover
    potential environmental restoration costs-the first time a country
    has made such coverage mandatory, Argentine authorities say.
    Legislation establishing the requirement was approved by the
    Argentine Congress in 2002, but never took effect. However,
    Argentine officials say implementation is near as a result of
    factors including the Argentine Supreme Court debate on the issue
    rule-making by the Environment Secretariat, and the emergence of
    environmental insurance in the private market.  "Though
    environmental insurance is very well developed in Europe and the
    United States and, within Latin America, in Chile..., nowhere has it
    been mandatory," says Mariana Valls, head of the environmental
    regulations division of Argentina's Environment Secretariat.
    Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
    article)

    ¶12. Peru's New Ministry Unveils Air Standards
    OCT. 2008 - In one of its first major initiatives, Peru's newly
    created Environment Ministry has launched an effort to improve air
    quality in the country's major cities by drafting new standards for
    airborne concentrations of sulfur dioxide, particulates, benzene,
    hydrocarbons and hydrogen sulfide.  Ministry officials say the new
    standards would require upgrading vehicles, lowering the sulfur
    content of diesel fuel and making industries more efficient. The new
    standards, which generally follow World Health Organization
    guidelines, will tighten allowable levels of some pollutants in two
    phases.  The maximum allowable average of sulfur dioxide in a
    24-hour period will be lowered from the current level of 365
    micrograms per cubic meter of air to 80 micrograms as of Jan. 1,
    2009, and to 20 micrograms as of Jan. 1, 2014. The 24-hour maximum
    for fine particulates (PM2.5) will have to drop from the current 65
    micrograms per cubic meter of air to 50 micrograms by Jan. 1, 2010,
    and 25 micrograms by Jan. 1. 2014. But some experts worry the
    measures may set the bar too high too quickly. Peru's deadline for
    lowering sulfur levels in its two classes of diesel fuel from 3,000
    parts per million (ppm) and 5,000 ppm, respectively, to 50 ppm was
    pushed back to the end of 2009.
    Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
    article)

    ¶13. No Let-Up in Battle over Ecuador's Oilfield Pollution
    OCT. 2008 - Long-running litigation pitting rainforest Indians
    against Chevron might run a whole lot longer-at least three more
    years if the eventual ruling is appealed, say attorneys from the two
    sides involved in the case.  That's not entirely surprising. With
    potential liability recently estimated at US$16 billion and with
    copious technical evidence filed, the courtroom fight over
    oil-industry impacts on the Ecuadorian Amazon from 1972 to 1992 has

    BRASILIA 00001572  006.2 OF 012

    reached a scale and intensity never before experienced by this
    country's justice system.  In the latest clash, attorneys from both
    sides filed their respective critiques of a court-appointed
    investigator's report that pegged health and environmental costs of
    the contamination at US$8.02 billion. The report, by investigator
    Richard Cabrera, also alleged that the oil operations at issue
    generated "unfair earnings" of US$8.31 billion for Texpet, a Texaco
    subsidiary and the operating partner of the two-company consortium
    that did the drilling. Chevron is the defendant by virtue of its
    acquisition of Texaco in 2001. The critiques of Cabrera's report
    were filed in Superior Court in the Amazon town of Nueva Loja, where
    the case is being heard, but other fronts in the oil-pollution
    battle have been active as well. In New York, a federal appeals
    court on Oct. 7 blocked an effort by Chevron to shift liability for
    the environmental damage at issue in the case onto the Ecuadorian
    government.
    Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
    article).

    --------------
    Climate Change
    --------------

    ¶14. Three U.S. States Partner with Six Other Foreign States to
    combat deforestation
    NOV. 19, 2008 - Governors from the U.S. states of California,
    Wisconsin and Illinois signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
    with six governors from Brazil and Indonesia on November 18 to
    reduce forestry-related greenhouse gas emissions.  The MOU was
    signed at the two-day Governors' Global Climate Summit in Los
    Angeles.  "With this agreement, we are focusing our collective
    efforts on the problem and requiring our states to jointly develop
    rules, incentives and tools to ensure reduced emission from
    deforestation and land degradation. We are also sending a strong
    message that this issue should be front and center during
    negotiations for the next global agreement on climate change," said
    California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.  The agreement commits
    California, Illinois and Wisconsin to work with the governors of six
    states and provinces in Brazil and Indonesia to help slow and stop
    tropical deforestation, the cutting and burning of trees to convert
    land to grow crops and raise livestock, and land degradation through
    joint projects and incentive programs. Under the agreement, the
    signatories will develop a joint action plan by early 2009.
    Source - English People

    ¶15. Climate-Policy Changes Awaited From Obama
    NOV. 2008 - Barack Obama's election as president of the United
    States has sparked optimism that U.S. climate policy will change
    dramatically, engaging the world and making developing regions such
    as Latin America part of the solution.   Obama has called for a cap
    and trade system to reduce emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by
    ¶2050. He also has pledged that the United States will "re-engage" in
    international climate negotiations, stipulating that those talks
    must also include high-emission developing countries, such as China
    and Brazil.  He "sees this as an opportunity to rebuild American
    credibility in the international sphere, but also sees that
    approaching global warming requires solutions, and engaging more
    constructively in that process helps deliver a much better
    solution," says Jake Schmidt, international climate policy director
    for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a leading U.S.
    green group based in Washington, D.C.   Even some of the CDM's
    boosters see flaws in the process. Among them is Mary Gomez,
    director of the Latin America carbon program for the Andean

    BRASILIA 00001572  007.2 OF 012

    Development Corporation, a development agency linked to the Andean
    Community, which has about 30 projects at various stages in the CDM
    pipeline. Gomez says the system is hampered by the sluggishness of
    an approval process that can take up to two years. If measures are
    not taken to expedite approval, she says, "the system will
    collapse."
    Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
    article)

    ¶16. Argentina: Gas Emitted by Cattle Account for 30% of GHG
    Emissions, Says Study
    OCT. 2008 - Just how prominently cattle figure in the climate-change
    picture has become the subject of intensive study in Argentina, home
    to some 55 million cattle.  Argentina's National Institute of
    Agricultural Technology (Inta) recently rigged cows with tubes
    leading from a surgical incision in their stomachs to a tank
    strapped to their backs in order to estimate with some precision how
    much greenhouse gas the animals produce.  The device measures gas
    that normally is emitted through burps as the cows, which in
    Argentina are typically range-fed, digest grass. Inta researchers
    themselves were astonished to find that on a daily basis, a 550-kilo
    cow produced from 800 to 1,000 liters of gas, approximately 30% of
    which was methane.  Extrapolating, the scientists calculate that
    cattle are responsible for 30% of Argentina's greenhouse-gas output,
    according to Inta's Guillermo Berra, a veterinarian by profession
    who for a decade has been responsible for assessing the greenhouse
    emissions of Argentina's agricultural sector.  Berra estimates that
    the country's farm sector overall accounts for roughly half of
    Argentina's total greenhouse emissions.
    Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
    article)

    ------
    Energy
    ------

    ¶17. Brazil to Build 5 New Hydroelectric Plants in the Amazon
    NOV. 20, 2008 - The president of Brazilian electric energy company
    Eletrobras, Jose Antonio Muniz, announced in Rio de Janeiro on
    November 19, at the 22nd Brazilian Energy Congress, that the holding
    company is looking to build five new hydroelectric plants in the
    Tapajos River, which crosses the northern states of Amazonas and
    Para.  The enterprises will have a total production capacity of
    10,680 megawatts (MW) of energy, and the projects should be tendered
    by mid-2010.  According to Eletrobras, construction of the units is
    part of a sustainable energy project, and will be integrated with
    the northern Brazilian communities.  To further connect Brazil's
    north region, Eletrobras is also contemplating the installation of
    transmission lines by means of the so-called "Linhao" (Big Line), to
    the National Interconnected System (SIN).   Muniz explained that the
    goal of Eletrobras is to build the new units under the concept known
    as "platform-plant" - a model proposed by the Brazilian minister of
    Environment, Carlos Minc.  The concept means the plant will be
    installed without the traditional infrastructure, such as roads and
    construction sites with barracks, which attract a large number of
    people to the area surrounding the site.  Source - Brazzilmag

    ¶18. Chile's Codelco Withdraws Thermoelectric Project
    NOV. 19, 2008 - Just hours before the Chilean Regional Environmental
    Commission (COREMA) convened to review Codelco's Farellones
    thermoelectric project set for northern Chile's Coquimbo region, the
    state-owned copper company decided to withdraw the project from
    consideration.  The project director, Rodrigo Jorquera, claims the

    BRASILIA 00001572  008.2 OF 012

    withdrawal would give more time to study the project and its
    impacts. But others speculated Codelco acted strategically. If
    COREMA had rejected the plan, due mainly to toxic emissions in the
    area, the project would not have another chance to pass
    environmental reviews, and Codelco would have lost millions of
    dollars.  Codelco has been facing other problems lately due to the
    falling price of copper, which constitutes the majority of the
    company business. These economic setbacks may also have played a
    part in the company's decision, say economists.
    Source - Santiago Times (no link)

    ¶19. Chile Bets on Rapeseed to Produce Biodiesel
    NOV. 13, 2008 - The Chemical and Mechanical Engineering Department
    of Chile's Universidad de la Frontera (UFRO), along with agriculture
    company Molino Gorbea and oil company COPEC, are suggesting the use
    of rapeseed - an oleaginous plant that is produced in southern
    Chile's Bio Bio and Los Lagos Regions - as a base for Chilean
    biodiesel production.  Robinson Betancourt, UFRO academic and
    director of the biodiesel project, explained that the objective of
    producing rapeseed-based biodiesel is to provide an additional fuel
    supply in response to national demand. "The objective is to supply
    Chile with 5 percent of various types of biofuels in regards to
    total fuel consumption," he said. The scientists from the UFRO are
    already producing 200 liters of biodiesel per day in one of Molino
    Gorbea's plants - with the aid of a government grant - and are
    working on improving the quality of the product to meet national and
    European criteria. The objective is to market the product in the
    coming two years.
    Source - Santiago Times (no link)

    ¶20. Huge Coal Plant Approved in Chile's Region VII
    NOV. 04, 2008 - Despite vocal opposition by area residents, Chilean
    environmental authorities have decided to approve plans by
    U.S.-owned energy company AES Gener to construct a huge coal-burning
    electricity plant along the coast in Region VII between Constitucion
    and Chanco.  The so-called Los Robles project is expected to cost
    AES Gener approximately US$1.3 billion. Once in operation, the plant
    will add some 750 mega-watts to Chile's central grid, making it one
    of the largest electricity facilities in the country.  An opposition
    group, which collected more than 10,000 signatures against the Los
    Robles plant, insists the project will hurt the region's budding
    tourism industry, harm the local agriculture and fishing industries
    and jeopardize the health of area residents.
    Source - Santiago Times (no link)

    ¶21. Brazil Needs to Find Long-Term Solution to Nuclear Waste
    OCT. 2008 - Ever since Brazil's National Energy Policy Council in
    June 2007 endorsed plans for Angra 3, the country's third nuclear
    plant, the project has seemed a forgone conclusion.  Officials view
    the 1,400-megawatt, R$7.2 billion (US$4.5 billion) reactor as a
    means of avoiding future energy shortages. They also feel Angra 3
    will help maintain diversification in a power grid dominated by
    hydroelectricity. If the plant starts up as planned in 2014, nuclear
    power will continue to account for 2% of the energy Brazil produces
    as new hydropower facilities come on line. Given the official
    support, it came as no surprise last month when Angra 3 cleared its
    last big bureaucratic hurdle by receiving a preliminary license from
    IBAMA, the Environment Ministry's permitting arm. The project still
    must obtain a construction license and, ultimately, an operating
    license from IBAMA. These are usually pro-forma permits, linked to
    certain government conditions.  One requirement in this case,
    however, could constitute a roadblock for the project unless the
    government removes it. Under the requirement, imposed by the

    BRASILIA 00001572  009.2 OF 012

    Environment Ministry, the National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN),
    Brazil's nuclear regulatory agency, must present IBAMA with a plan
    for the long-term disposal of high-level radioactive waste before
    Angra 3 is put into service. Currently, spent fuel rods from the two
    reactors are stored in indoor, on-site pools. Eletronuclear, the
    state company that runs Angra 1 and Angra 2 and will build and
    operate Angra 3, argues the high-level-waste requirement is neither
    feasible nor necessary now. It points out that not even nations with
    the largest nuclear-power programs have developed permanent disposal
    sites for high-level waste.

    Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
    article)

    ¶22. After Trip To Russia, Chvez Charts Nuclear Course
    OCT. 2008 - Following a two-day visit to Russia to sign energy
    agreements, Venezuelan President Hugo Chvez said his country is
    ready to develop nuclear power-a prospect that troubles military and
    environmental experts.  Speaking at a political rally in Caracas on
    Sept. 28, Chvez said Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had
    offered to help Venezuela build a nuclear reactor.  "We certainly
    are interested in developing nuclear energy, for peaceful ends of
    course-for medical purposes and to generate electricity," Chvez
    said. "Brazil has various nuclear reactors, as does Argentina. We
    will have ours as well."  Venezuela has sought assistance in
    developing nuclear energy technology from both Iran and Argentina in
    the past in an effort to show it is a "green country" that is
    serious about replacing greenhouse-gas-producing fossil fuels. The
    announcement that it would delve into nuclear technology with
    Russian assistance raises hackles among some experts who say the
    move will worsen U.S.-Venezuelan relations and pose new risks of
    nuclear proliferation.
    Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
    article)

    --------------------------
    Infrastructure Development
    --------------------------

    ¶23. Oil and Gas Projects Proliferate In Western Amazon
    NOV. 2008 - Dozens of new oil and gas concessions have cropped up in
    recent years in the Amazon's most biodiverse and pristine regions,
    propelled by strong world oil prices and the discovery of large oil
    and gas reserves.  A recent study shows state and multinational
    companies now hold more than 180 oil and gas blocks covering 680,000
    square kilometers (170 million acres) in the western Amazon.  The
    new concessions, most of them granted since 2004 in Bolivia,
    Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and western Brazil, could threaten hundreds
    of species of birds, primates and amphibians as well as numerous
    isolated Indian tribes, according to a study by Duke University and
    the U.S.-based non-governmental groups Save America's Forests and
    Land is Life. Many of the concessions overlap with national parks
    and existing or proposed Indian reserves, the study says.  The
    study, entitled "Oil and Gas Projects in the Western Amazon: Threats
    to Wilderness, Biodiversity, and Indigenous Peoples," was published
    Aug. 13 in the online scientific journal Plos One. It warns of
    devastating impacts if the hydrocarbon projects are not
    environmentally well-managed and Indian rights not respected.  The
    western Amazon is one of the most species-rich regions in the world
    in amphibians, birds and animals, and has nearly as many tree
    species per hectare (up to 600) as the entire United States. It also
    is home to over a dozen Indian tribes that live in what is known as
    "voluntary isolation."

    BRASILIA 00001572  010.2 OF 012

    Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
    article)

    ¶24. Controversial Colombian Port Project Is On
    NOV. 2008 - For nearly 10 years, Indians and environmental activists
    have sought to stop construction of a multi-purpose port on the
    ecologically rich and fragile coast of Dibulla, an impoverished
    Colombian municipality on the Caribbean. They have sent hundreds of
    protestors to the project site, petitioned environmental authorities
    and filed suit.  But despite those efforts and a two-year suspension
    of the project ordered by environmental authorities, construction of
    the US$13 million Brisa Multipurpose Port resumed in late September
    in Dibulla, which lies at the foot of the Sierra Nevada de Santa
    Marta, the world's highest coastal range.  The Brisa Port is being
    carved out of an area of dry forest interspersed with numerous
    wetlands and mangrove swamps that harbor migratory birds and species
    including the vulnerable American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) and
    the critically endangered hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata).
     Executives at Brisa, the private company which began building the
    port in 2006, argue that the facility-combined with an accompanying
    steel and iron complex, cement factory and duty-free zone-will
    generate 3,500 direct jobs and 15,000 indirect ones in construction
    and operation.  They also say the deepwater harbor where the port is
    being built will allow Brisa to manage exports of nearly four
    million tons annually of limestone, coal and other raw materials,
    and permit a massive ramping up of production in Colombia's steel
    and iron industry.  Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa
    Stoner for complete article)

    ---------------------
    Extractive Industries
    ---------------------

    ¶25. World's Biggest Coal Mine Is Slated for Northern Colombia
    NOV. 2008 - Drummond Coal will soon begin construction of a new
    100,000-acre (40,000-ha) coal mine in northeastern Colombia which
    company officials say will be the biggest open-pit mine in the
    world.  The new US$1.5 billion El Descanso Norte mine is expected to
    boost Drummond's annual exports of mined thermal coal from an
    average of 70 million tons to 100 million tons, increasing
    Colombia's gross domestic product by as much as 4%.  That would
    propel Colombia to the third among world coal exporters, ahead of
    Russia and behind Australia and Indonesia.   While the huge mine
    would generate substantial revenues from the more than 1 billion
    tons in estimated coal reserves, some environmental groups have
    expressed concern about airborne coal dust causing water- and
    air-pollution, including in the immense Zapatosa Marsh, which is fed
    in part by area rivers and is home to egrets, manatees and myriad
    fish species in the departments of Cesar and Magdalena.   In
    response to these concerns and those of residents worried that
    engineering work will divert several area rivers and lower the water
    table, the Colombian government negotiated with Drummond over two
    years one of the most robust and carefully crafted environmental
    permits in Colombian history.  Colombian environmental officials
    consider it a benchmark permit in terms of environmental protection
    and conditionality.
    Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
    article)

    -------
    General
    -------

    BRASILIA 00001572  011.2 OF 012

    ¶26. Decrees Affecting Indigenous Lands Are Overturned In Peru
    OCT. 2008 - Following protests by indigenous groups in the Peruvian
    Amazon, Congress has handed President Alan Garca a rare defeat,
    overturning two executive decree laws in a vote that some
    environmentalists say could prompt future challenges to presidential
    decrees.  By a 66-29 vote with no abstentions, Congress has repealed
    decrees 1015 and 1073, which reduced the voting support needed for
    native communities in the tropical lowlands and campesino
    communities in the highlands to make decisions about land use,
    including sales or leases.  Community leaders protested that they
    had not been consulted about the measures, which lowered the
    required majority from two-thirds to a 50% plus one. According to
    Ernesto Raez-Luna, director of science and development for the
    Center for Environmental Sustainability at Lima's Cayetano Heredia
    University, the Aug. 22 vote demonstrated both the new-found power
    of the Inter-Ethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian
    Amazon (Aidesep), the national indigenous organization, and is also
    indicative of a previously unseen willingness by Congress to stand
    up to Garca.  That could signal new alliances among
    environmentalists, indigenous groups and some members of Congress in
    efforts to overturn other laws in the package of more than 100
    decrees designed by the executive branch to bring Peru into line
    with the provisions of the Peruvian-U.S. free trade agreement,
    Raez-Luna says.  (Does this overturning then threaten the US Free
    Trade agreement then?
    Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
    article)

    ¶27. Peru: Free Trade Opens Environmental Window
    NOV. 01, 2008 - Legislative decree 1090, which modifies Peru's
    forest policy, is worrying U.S. trade authorities because it
    contravenes environmental clauses of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
    that is scheduled to enter force between the two countries in
    January 2009.  The decree, which in June amended the Forestry and
    Wildlife Act of Peru, leaves 45 million hectares -- or 60 percent of
    Peru's jungles -- out of the Forestry Heritage protection system --
    a step that runs counter to the FTA forestry annex. That was one of
    the 10 observations made by the Office of the U.S Trade
    Representative, Susan Schwab, in a meeting with delegates of the
    Peruvian government in October in Washington, according to Sandro
    Chvez, president of the non-governmental Ecological Forum (Foro
    Ecologico). It was a point of concern particularly for U.S.
    authorities, Chvez told Tierramerica, as was the elimination of the
    National Forestry Commission, which ensured citizen participation in
    forest management and was stipulated in the unmodified version of
    the law.  At the meeting, the U.S. delegates stated that in order to
    implement the (FTA) Free Trade Agreement, a public consultation
    mechanism for forest issues was essential, he said. Decree 1090 is
    one of the 99 adopted by the executive branch under special
    legislative powers granted it by Congress for the implementation of
    the FTA.
    Source - IPS News

    ¶28. Global Financial Crisis a Bad Sign for Andean Biodiversity
    OCT. 16, 2008 - The crisis affecting the financial sector and stock
    markets around the world could fuel the expansion of extractive
    industries (primarily fossil fuels) in South America's Andean
    region, warn experts.  Investors from the industrialized world may
    feel pressure to seek alternative means for financial liquidity,
    forced by divestment from stocks in recent weeks, Stewart Maginnis,
    director of forest conservation for the World Conservation Union
    (IUCN), told Tierramerica.   Debate on the environmental
    repercussions of the financial crisis overtook much of the World

    BRASILIA 00001572  012.2 OF 012

    Conservation Congress held by the IUCN Oct. 5-14 in Barcelona,
    Spain, which drew some 8,000 experts.  But the uncertainty is such
    that others predict reduced pressure on natural resources as a
    result of the economic crisis.  Maginnis pointed to the current high
    prices of fuels, noting that investment in the expansion of oil and
    gas company activities now is attractive -- and constitutes a threat
    to protection efforts in areas like the Amazon jungle region in
    Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.  Source -
    Tierramerica

    SOBEL

`