Office of the Historian

427. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski) to President Carter1

Washington, December 3, 1977

SUBJECT

  • Secretary Vance’s Trip: Nuclear Results and Follow-up

Cy has prepared a short report (Tab A)2 analyzing the results of his discussions on nuclear matters on his trip to Latin America. It is a short and good report so I will not summarize it here. Let me just add a couple of points.

In Brazil, Cy and several members of his party had good discussions with the Minister of Commerce and Industry Calmon de Sa and the Minister of Mines Ueki on cooperative approaches to develop non-nuclear sources of energy, including alcohol (from sugar), bioconversion, hydrogen, coal mining technology, and solar energy. The Brazilians seemed quite enthusiastic about the idea, but they have a problem which has been holding them back, which is quite similar to our own: different Ministers have responsibilities for different subjects, and there is no overall way to coordinate such a cooperative effort.

An attempt at developing a cooperative approach to energy research and development might be the best way to demonstrate to the Brazilians our genuine interest in their energy problem, our interest in cooperating in scientific endeavors with them, and the sincerity of our position on nuclear energy. If you approve, I will ask Cy—who had conversations on this subject in Brazil—to designate a person in State to work with DOE in negotiating an overall agreement on cooperation between the US and Brazil in researching and developing non-nuclear energy sources.3

A second point I wanted to bring to your attention is that our proposal on the German-Brazilian deal, which Gerry Smith conveyed to the Germans,4 was not conveyed to the Brazilians in its entirety. Gerry felt that they would reject it immediately if he put it on the table and so he described the proposal only in very general terms. Since the Brazilians have left the door open for other discussions, we will have the [Page 1074] opportunity to put the entire proposal forward at a more propitious time.

I am also attaching a brief summary of Cy’s conversation with Geisel5 and Gerry Smith’s remarks at the Brazilian Foreign Ministry (Tab B).6

  1. Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Country File, Box 6, Brazil, 1–12/77. Secret. Carter initialed the upper right-hand corner of the memorandum.↩
  2. See Document 426.↩
  3. Carter checked the “Approve” option.↩
  4. Not found.↩
  5. See footnote 3, Document 426.↩
  6. See Ambassador Smith’s “Remarks on Nuclear Matters at Working Session at Foreign Ministry in Brasilia,” November 22, 1977. (National Archives, RG 383, Records of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, Office of the Director, Lot 81D155, Box 10, Brazil Bilaterals, November 22, 1977)↩