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C O N F I D E N T I A L BRASILIA 000193 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA, IIP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2018 
TAGS: PREL ETTC KTIA TSPA TPHY NASA UP RS BR
SUBJECT: UKRAINE REQUESTS USG SUPPORT FOR UKRAINIAN-BRAZILIAN SPACE LAUNCH JOINT VENTURE AT ALCANTARA 
Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Lisa Kubiske, Reason 1.4 (b) and (d) REF: A) STATE 3691, 
B) 2008 BRASILIA 1652 

¶1. (C) On February 6, 2009, Environment, Science and Technology, and Health (ESTH) Counselor and Assistant Air Attache delivered the USG response (REFTEL A) to the Ukrainian proposal (REFTEL B) to help the United States obtain Brazilian congressional approval of the 2000 U.S.-Brazil Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA). Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Lakomov and Rustam Akhunov, First Secretary, went over the matter twice to make sure they had the message right. By the end of the meeting, while disappointed, they clearly understood that the USG did not want Ukraine to seek to persuade members of the Brazilian congress to support ratification of the 2000 TSA. 

¶2. (C) NOTE. A dispute with a local community, called a "quilombo" composed of descendents of runaway slaves, over land at the Alcantara site has led to delays in the plans of Alcantara Cyclone Space (a Ukrainian-Brazilian joint venture) to begin launches by 2011. In the past, the Ukrainians have suggested that the USG might be responsible for stirring up the quilombo with the aim to thwart their joint venture. In a similar vein, at the February 6 meeting they asked whether the USG was behind some buoys that had been recently discovered near Alcantara that supposedly had electronic equipment in them, which could possibly be used to collect telemetry information from any space launch vehicles launched from Alcantara. END NOTE. 

SOBEL