US embassy cable - 05RIODEJANEIRO1168

UNCLAS RIO DE JANEIRO 001168 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSTIVE 
 
STATE FOR WHA/BSC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, ECON, EFIN, ETRD, BR, Domestic Politics 
SUBJECT: MINAS GERAIS:  GOVERNOR WANTS DEPORTEES 
SENT TO OTHER STATES AS WELL 
 
 
1.  (SBU)  In late September, 2004, Minas Gerais 
Governor Aecio Neves mentioned to the Consul General 
that he objected to the flights returning illegal 
Brazilian emigrants from the United States arriving 
only in Belo Horizonte.  The Governor said that 
returning all deportees to Minas Gerais state, when 
many were from other states, made it appear that 
"exporting illegals" was a trademark activity of the 
state. 
 
2.  (U)  The disagreement about where to send 
deported Brazilians has again heated up. A flight of 
169 Brazilians scheduled to be returned to Brazil 
via the Confins Airport in Belo Horizonte on October 
27 was cancelled at the last minute at the 
Governor's request.  The Governor emphasized that he 
is not prohibiting landings such as this, simply 
that he requests that other states and the federal 
government participate in the economic and political 
costs of such flights. 
 
3.  (U)  Neves is quoted in the daily Estado de 
Minas on October 28 saying "Minas Gerais is the only 
state that has received deportees.  We have received 
three flights of illegal emigrants (766 repatriates) 
and have sent them to their home cities. . . 
Itamaraty (the federal government) was supposed to 
be a partner with the state government, especially 
for those people not originating from Minas Gerais, 
but until now it hasn't participated in the effort." 
 
4.  (U)  Neves' proposal to the federal government 
is that planes of deportees land in a different 
state each time, and that individual states take 
responsibility for the transportation of their 
citizens home.  The Ministry of Foreign Relations 
reports that at least 50 percent of the deportees 
are from Minas Gerais.  In total, there are 
reportedly close 27,000 Brazilians detained in Texas 
for attempting to enter the U.S. illegally. 
 
5.  (SBU)  COMMENT:  Neves is aggressively and 
successfully pursuing foreign investment in his 
state.  Information that large numbers of "mineiros" 
are seeking economic opportunities in the United 
States may not promise a healthy work climate in the 
minds of foreign investors.  One of the reasons 
given for why more emigrants to the U.S. come from 
Minas Gerais state than any other state - that many 
Americans came to Minas after World War II to 
participate in the development of the mining and 
steel industries and influenced the mineiros and 
even supported them in getting to the United States 
- does not assuage the nervousness of investors 
today about how solid the state is economically. 
Neves has turned his state around in a short two-and- 
a-half years - from deep in the red to a respectable 
black.  He is probably correct in seeing the 
repatriation flights as drawing attention to 
employment instability, but, rightly that it is a 
problem in the country as a whole, not just in the 
state of Minas Gerais. 
 
ATKINS