Brazil seeks U.S. response to alleged spying on citizens - Reuters

Oh, what a tangled web we weave....

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/07/us-brazil-espionage-snowden-idUSBRE9660ER20130707

(Reuters) - Brazil will demand an explanation from the United States over report its citizens' electronic communications have been under surveillance by U.S. spy agencies for at least a decade, foreign minister Antonio Patriota said on Sunday.

Patriota's remarks were in response to a report in the Globo daily newspaper on Sunday saying that the U.S. National Security Agency has been monitoring the telephone and e-mail activity of Brazilian companies and individuals as part of U.S. espionage activities.

The report cited documents obtained from U.S. fugitive Edward Snowden, a former NSA intelligence contractor.

Patriota also said his government plans to propose changes to international communications rules administered by the Geneva-based International Telecommunications Union to improve communications secrecy, the statement said. Brazil also plans to present proposals to the United Nations to protect the privacy of electronic communication.

"The Brazilian government is gravely concerned by the news that electronic and telephone communications of Brazilian citizens are the objective of espionage efforts by U.S. intelligence agencies," a foreign ministry statement said.