The United States pledged on Tuesday that Brazil and other allies will get answers about American communications surveillance aimed at thwarting terrorism, but gave no indication it would change the way it gathers such information.
Secretary of State John Kerry urged Brazil not to let recent revelations of secret internet surveillance by the United States derail growing trade, diplomatic and cultural relations between the two largest economies in the Americas.
“Brazil and other countries will understand exactly what we are doing, why and how – and we will work together to make sure that whatever is done is done in a way that respects our friends and our partners,” Kerry said on his first visit to Brasilia as the top US diplomat.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota said his country needs more than explanations for the recent disclosures of surveillance of emails and telephone conversations of Brazilians by the US National Security Agency (NSA).
“We need to stop practices that violate the sovereignty (of nations), relations of trust between states and individual liberties,” Patriota said at a news conference after meeting with Kerry.
“Today we face a new type of challenge in our relations, a challenge related to the news of interception of the electronic and telephone communications of Brazilians,” Patriota said.
Kerry’s first official visit to South America as secretary of state is taking place under the cloud of revelations about US global surveillance programmes made by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who was granted a year’s asylum by Russia on August 1.
The spying has sparked particular concern in Latin American countries, many of which have long complained about US infringements on their sovereignty. Brazil has been particularly vocal in its complaints.
Kerry was in the Brazilian capital to prepare for a state visit by President Dilma Rousseff to the White House in October that underscores the importance the United States gives to its ties with Brazil.
Protecting Brazilians
Kerry said the United States gathers foreign intelligence of the type collected by all nations to protect their citizens, and US intelligence has helped protect not just Americans but the populations of other countries, including Brazil.
Last month, the Brazilian newspaper O Globo published documents leaked by Snowden that showed that the NSA targeted Latin American countries with spying programmes that can monitor billions of emails and phone calls for suspicious activity.
The surveillance controversy set off by Snowden has roiled relations between the United States and Brazil just as they seemed to be improving under Rousseff, a pragmatic leftist.