Brazilian president Rousseff: US surveillance a ‘breach of international law’ | World news | theguardian.com

Brazil‘s president, Dilma Rousseff, has launched a blistering attack on US espionage at the UN general assembly, accusing the NSA
of violating international law by its indiscriminate collection of
personal information of Brazilian citizens and economic espionage
targeted on the country’s strategic industries.

Rousseff’s angry speech was a direct challenge to President Barack Obama,
who was waiting in the wings to deliver his own address to the UN
general assembly, and represented the most serious diplomatic fallout to
date from the revelations by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Rousseff
had already put off a planned visit to Washington in protest at US
spying, after NSA documents leaked by Snowden revealed that the US
electronic eavesdropping agency had monitored the Brazilian president’s
phone calls, as well as Brazilian embassies and spied on the state oil
corporation, Petrobras.

“Personal data of citizens was intercepted indiscriminately.
Corporate information – often of high economic and even strategic value –
was at the centre of espionage activity.

“Also, Brazilian
diplomatic missions, among them the permanent mission to the UN and the
office of the president of the republic itself, had their communications
intercepted,” Rousseff said, in a global rallying cry against what she
portrayed as the overweening power of the US security apparatus.

“Tampering
in such a manner in the affairs of other countries is a breach of
international law and is an affront of the principles that must guide
the relations among them, especially among friendly nations. A sovereign
nation can never establish itself to the detriment of another sovereign
nation. The right to safety of citizens of one country can never be
guaranteed by violating fundamental human rights of citizens of another
country.”

If you like this post, please consider sharing it.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *