In sharp reaction to the latest NSA leak revealing Canada’s acute interest in the Brazilian mining industry, President Dilma Rousseff condemned the “cyberwar” launched by the US and its allies against Brazil and demanded they stop the espionage.
Brazil's Foreign
Ministry summoned the Canadian ambassador demanding clarification
of what it called a "serious and unacceptable violation"
of the country’s sovereignty and the right to privacy, a ministry
statement said.
Rousseff’s initial fiery comments came via her Twitter account, where she posted 9 messages in a row condemning Canada’s alleged spying activities.
“That is unacceptable among countries that claim to be
partners. We reject this cyberwar,” the Brazilian President
wrote.
"The United States and its allies must immediately stop their
spying activity once and for all," Rousseff tweeted.
On Sunday, Brazilian TV Globo released the latest leaks on the
American and allied spying network obtained by Guardian
journalist Glenn Greenwald from the former NSA contractor Edward
Snowden.
The report detailed how the US National Security Agency (NSA)
interacted with the Communication Security Establishment (CSE) of
Canada to get data using software called Olympia from phone
calls, internet traffic and emails flowing out of the Brazilian
ministry.
It also claimed the method of cracking the Ministry’s cyber
defenses were discussed and shared among the ‘Five Eyes’ spy
network, which includes the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand and
Australia.
Following the leak, Rousseff tweeted that it indicated that each
of the ‘Five Eyes’ governments, as well as “thousands”
more in companies providing intelligence services had “ample
access” to the information collected in Brazil.
According to the report, Canada has been particularly interested
in the Brazilian mining industry, Rousseff pointed out. This
confirms that the espionage had economic and strategic purposes,
she added.
Brazilian-US relations have already been strained by the
Snowden-exposed espionage scandal, with Rousseff recently
postponing a state visit to Washington in response to the US
spying on her communications with top aides. Rousseff has
demanded a full public apology from the President Obama. However,
no such apology has been made.
The South American country is now investigating whether Internet
social media giants such as Facebook and Google cooperated with
the NSA by sharing the private data of Brazilian users.