Brazil urges U.S. to clarify reports on internet surveillance

PanARMENIAN.Net - Brazil has requested clarifications from the U.S. government about reports that its intelligence agencies monitored millions of emails and phone calls from Brazilian citizens, BBC News reported.

The allegations were published on Saturday, July 6 by O Globo newspaper. They were based on documents disclosed by fugitive American intelligence analyst Edward Snowden.

Brazil received the reports "with deep concern," Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota in a statement. President Dilma Rousseff called several cabinet ministers to a meeting on Sunday to discuss the issue, following the publication of the newspaper articles on Saturday.

Patriota was taking part in an international literature meeting in the city of Paraty, near Rio de Janeiro, but called the media in the afternoon to read a statement.

"The Brazilian government has asked for clarifications through the U.S. embassy in Brasilia and the Brazilian embassy in Washington," he said.

Patriota said it was going to request that the United Nations work on regulation "to impede abuses and protect the privacy" of internet users.

Communications Minister Paulo Bernardo said the Federal Police and the Brazilian Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) would carry out an investigation to find out whether internet providers based in Brazil had been involved in the alleged surveillance scheme.

"If that has happened, these companies broke Brazilian law and acted against our Constitution, which safeguards the right to privacy," said Bernardo. "But the surveillance was probably done through undersea cables and satellites. Most of the cables for international communications go through the U.S.," he added.

According to O Globo newspaper, Brazil had one of the highest numbers of electronic messages and phone calls monitored by the U.S., even though the country has good relations with the U.S.

"It is not known the number of people and companies spied on in Brazil, but there is evidence that there was a large volume of data collected on a regular basis," says the report.

"Brazil appears on the charts of the American agency (National Security Agency, or NSA) as a prime target for the espionage of phone calls and other data, alongside nations like China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan," says O Globo.