Brazil Admits To Spying On US Diplomats After Blasting NSA Surveillance 239
cold fjord writes with this excerpt from The Verge: "Brazil this week admitted to spying on diplomats from countries including the US, Russia, and Iran as part of a domestic program launched 10 years ago ... The program was first revealed in a Monday report from the newspaper Folha de São Paulo, which obtained documents from the Brazilian Intelligence Agency, commonly known as ABIN. The revelations come at a sensitive time for current Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, who has been among the most outspoken critics of the widespread surveillance conducted by the US National Security Agency (NSA). According to Folha, Brazilian intelligence spied on rooms rented out by the US embassy in Brasilia from 2003 to 2004. ... The report also claims that ABIN targeted Russian and Iranian officials, tracking their movements within the country ... Rousseff's office acknowledged Monday that the spying took place, but stressed that the operations were carried out within the law. The administration added that publishing classified documents is a crime in Brazil, and that those responsible 'will be prosecuted according to the law.' ....the revelations may put Rousseff in an awkward position. The Brazilian president cancelled a state dinner with Barack Obama earlier this year ... and lashed out against US spying in an impassioned speech to the UN in September."
Re:Brazil spies on us? (Score:4, Informative)
I thought Brazil was also upset about this:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/18/glenn-greenwald-guardian-partner-detained-heathrow [theguardian.com]
(Government harassment of Brazilian journalists who expose NSA mass surveillance for the non-clickers).
Re:Brazil spies on us? (Score:4, Informative)
How is spying on foreign diplomats the same as mass surveillance of the ordinary citizens of your own country?
They aren't the same.
Brazil however doesn't give a shit if America spies on its own citizens.
Brazil was upset because America spied on Brazilian citizens.
Different perspectives.