NSA spied on Brazilian president: WikiLeaks documents
The US National Security Agency (NSA) has snooped on several key Brazilian government officials, including President Dilma Rousseff, new WikiLeaks documents show.
According to the documents released on Saturday, the NSA wiretapped Rousseff, her secretary, her chief of staff and several other top officials, USA Today reported.
The NSA listened in on conversations taking place on Rousseff's palace office line and her presidential jet phone. The US spy agency also eavesdropped on phone numbers for the Brazilian foreign minister, ambassadors and military chiefs.
“Our publication today shows the US has a long way to go to prove its dragnet surveillance on ‘friendly’ governments is over,” WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange wrote in a statement.
“The US has not just [been] targeting Rousseff but the key figures she talks to everyday,” he added.
Assange stated that any US assurances of ending its spying activities against Rousseff cannot be trusted, and the Brazilian leader herself must guarantee that the surveillance has ceased on her other officials.
The NSA conducted an “economic espionage campaign” by snooping on those in charge of Brazil’s economy, targeting the head of the Central Bank of Brazil, WikiLeaks documents showed.
According to WikiLeaks, the NSA also spied on Brazil’s ambassadors to the US, Germany, France, Switzerland and the European Union.
This comes as Rousseff is making her first state visit to Washington on Tuesday since dramatically cancelling the 2013 trip.
Brazil’s O Globo newspaper reported in July 3013 that the NSA had collected data on billions of telephone and email conversations in the South American country.
The Globo report said that information released by US surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden reveals that the number of telephone and email messages logged by the NSA in the 10-year period was near to the 2.3 billion captured in the US.
According to another report by Globo TV, the NSA spied on emails, phone calls and text messages of Rousseff and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
Furious Rousseff canceled her 2013 visit to the United States and downgraded bilateral commercial ties and demanded a public US apology for spying on her and her country’s officials.
GJH/GJH
China says stands with Malaysia, region in face of unilateralism
Iran warns ‘moving the goalposts’ could derail Tehran-Washington talks
‘The West as we knew it no longer exists’: European Commission’s chief
VIDEO | US's broken commitments
VIDEO | Russia will not stand idly by if Iran is attacked
Iran repeats call on IAEA to clarify position on threats made against peaceful nuclear sites
China says stands with Malaysia, region in face of unilateralism
UN envoy urges journalists to speak out on Gaza genocide
‘Complete humanitarian collapse’ imminent in Gaza: Media office
Doctors Without Borders: Israel has turned Gaza into ‘mass grave’
Iran, Tajikistan discuss defense partnership, counter-terrorism cooperation
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
