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WikiLeaks: US Routinely Spied on Brazil

WikiLeaks: US Routinely Spied on Brazil
WikiLeaks: US Routinely Spied on Brazil

The WikiLeaks website said it has evidence that a number of senior Brazilian government officials were “routinely spied” on by the United States’ National Security Agency.

It said the NSA was particularly active in economic espionage against Brazil, BBC reported.

The whistleblower website published a list of 29 phone numbers of Brazilians in banking, finance and the economy. According to the website, the espionage apparently began in early 2011 or even earlier.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff cancelled a state visit to Washington two years ago when former CIA contractor Edward Snowden revealed that her phones and emails were being spied on.

“The publication proves that not only President Rousseff was targeted, but also her assistant, her secretary, her chief of staff (former finance minister Antonio Palocci), her palace office and even the phone in her presidential jet,” said WikiLeaks.

“Even on her official travels, President Rousseff is not safe from interception.”

However, Rousseff declared on a visit to the US last week that the spying row was a thing of the past.

But Wikileaks editor-in-chief, Julian Assange, said American government eavesdropping practices have not been suspended.

“If President Rousseff wants to see more US investment in Brazil on the back of her recent trip as she claims, how can she assure Brazilian companies that their US counterparts will not have an advantage provided by this surveillance, until she can really guarantee the spying has stopped, not just on her, but on all Brazilian issues.”

 

Financialtribune.com