Boeing Might Lose $4B Brazil Deal For
F-18 Jets After NSA Surveillance Scandal; Analysts Say Politics Won't Trump
Business
By Patricia Rey Mallén
on September 12 2013 2:37 PM
Brazil did not take it lightly when it found out that the U.S. National Security Agency had been
spying on official correspondence, calls and emails from the Brazilian
government. President Dilma Rousseff, whose cell phone had been tapped by the
spy agency, asked for explanations and an apology from President Barack Obama, while Brazilian diplomats
called the surveillance an “attack on sovereignty.”
But the NSA operation revealed by
leaker Edward Snowden might have
damaged more than relations between the two biggest economies in the Americas.
It might also have put in jeopardy a $4 billion deal for fighter jets that was,
until recently, almost a done deal for Boeing
(NYSE:BA).
Brazil is in the market for 36 new fighter jets to modernize its
air force. The order was hotly contested by the world’s major aircraft
producers, and a three-way final round ended in America’s favor with the planned
purchase of the F-18 Super Hornet from Boeing. The Chicago-based aviation giant was the clear favorite of Brazil’s
government, over the Rafale made by France’s Dassault (EPA:AM), which was former
President Luiz Inácio da Silva’s choice, and the JAS-39 Gripen NG from Sweden’s
Saab (STO:SAAB-B). A visit by Vice President Joe Biden to Brazil earlier this year was widely
considered as having sealed the deal for Boeing.
But as news broke that the NSA had
been monitoring not only the Brazilian government but also oil giant Petrobras
(NYSE:PBR), rumors began swirling that Brasília might not want to pursue the
deal. “You cannot give such a contract to a country that you do not trust,”
Reuters quoted a source close to the jet fighter negotiations as saying.
Brazil
Donna J. Hrinak
was the U.S. ambassador for Brazil,
and the president, Boeing Brazil for
the Boeing Company.
Note: Clifford M. Sobel
was the U.S. ambassador for Brazil,
and is a director at the Millennium
Promise.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Millennium Promise, and the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
George
Soros is the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society.
Vernon
E. Jordan Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), a senior counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss,
Hauer & Feld, LLP, Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, a director at the
American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
Akin,
Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP is the lobby firm for the Boeing
Company.
Valerie
B. Jarrett is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s
great niece, the
senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
William M.
Daley is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, was the chief
of staff for the Barack Obama administration, and a director at the Boeing
Company.
W.
James McNerney Jr. is the chairman & president & CEO for the Boeing
Company, and is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory
Please note: This link for the
members of the Commercial Club of Chicago can no longer be found.
R. Eden Martin
is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP.
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama
was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
R. Eden
Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Robert
S. Osborne is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the
EVP & general counsel for Booz Allen Hamilton.
Edward
Snowden was an employee for Booz Allen Hamilton, and leaked
information about for the National Security Agency (NSA).
Booz
Allen Hamilton is a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA).
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