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Documents

November 20, 1970

Letter from Director of the Bureau of International Scientific and Technological Affairs Herman Pollack to Miller N. Hudson, Jr. at the US Embassy in Rio De Janeiro

Miller thanks Pollank for his letter (attached) with historical background on Brazil's interest in developing nuclear weapons.

May 16, 1968

Telegram from the Consul of the US in Sao Paulo to the Department of State, 'Brazilian Centrifuge Program'

Information about the classified Brazilian centrifuge program.

March 23, 1968

Airgram from the Embassy of the US in Rio De Janeiro to the Department of State, 'Assessment of Brazilian Nuclear Device Capability'

The US Embassy in Rio De Janeiro sends airgram to the Department of State with a technical and political assessment of Brazil's nuclear capacity.

March 28, 1964

Airgram from the Embassy of the US in Rio De Janeiro to the Department of State, 'Non-Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy by Brazil'

The US Embassy in Rio De Janeiro sends airgram to the Department of State regarding military pressure in Brazil to produce fissionable material for nonpeaceful purposes.

1977

Brazil Scope Paper: Implications of the Argentine Visit

Cyrus Vance - apparently unintentionally - left behind this document while meeting with Brazilian President Geisel. It lays out US negotiations with Argentina to ratify the Treaty of Tlateloco, to accept full scope safeguards and to delay the construction of a reprocessing facility in exchange for US nuclear assistance and Brazil’s acceptance of a moratorium on the construction of a reprocessing facility.

September 8, 1986

Memorandum by Director of Global Issues, 'President Sarney and Brazil´s Nuclear Policy'

This is a CIA assessment of Brazilian nuclear politics a few weeks before President Sarney's visit to the U.S.

December 1985

Special National Intelligence Estimate SNIE 93-83, 'Brazil's Changing Nuclear Goals: Motives and Constraints'

This SNIE analyzes Brazilian nuclear politics in the light of the return of civilian rule in the country after 21 years of military rule. It demonstrates a profound knowledge of the military's involvement in the nuclear program.

October 18, 1991

Letter from President Collor to President Bush on the Brazilian Space Program

This letter sent by President Fernando Collor to President George H. W. Bush describes the importance of the first Brazilian made satellite to the country and communicates that the French-American consortium Orbital Sciences Corporation will probably be the enterprise chosen to put the Brazilian satellite in orbit. President Collor expected that this partnership paved the way for further cooperation in the space field and informed President Bush of his decision to create the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB), under civilian control.

September 8, 1986

Central Intelligence Agency, Directorate of Intelligence, 'President Sarney and Brazil’s Nuclear Policy'

A Directorate of Intelligence analysis, prepared in 1986, provides an interesting contrast with excisions in the NIEs on the indigenous program; it includes details on the major Navy, Air Force, and Army components of the indigenous program, including the nuclear submarine objective. As with the NIEs, the authors of this report saw no “political decision” on nuclear weapons and further noted President Sarney’s public statements against a weapons program. But a piece of political intelligence initially excised from this report suggested, rightly or wrongly, that Sarney may have been personally ambivalent.

December 1985

Memorandum to Holders of Special National Intelligence Estimate, SNIE 93-83, 'Brazil’s Changing Nuclear Goals: Motives and Constraints'

The SNIEs from 1983 and the 1985 update emphasize Brazil’s quest for technological-industrial autonomy which in nuclear terms meant developing an indigenous program to master the fuel cycle, including uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing capabilities. In seeking those objectives, Brazil did not want to face any constraints, and its leaders were unresponsive to US or other pressures for safeguards on nuclear facilities. According to the 1985 report the prominent role of the military in nuclear activities, “the direction of Brazil’s nuclear r&d,” and the CNEN president’s “reputation of favoring a nuclear option” posed a “danger to US interests in Brazil.”

Pagination