14 DAY TRIAL // When it comes to Brazil, the NSA didn’t limit itself to spying on millions of citizens and businesses across the country, but has apparently also set eyes on the country’s president.
According to one leaked document in Greenwald’s possession and published in O Globo, the spying didn’t limit to Dilma Rousseff, but extended to several key advisers of the Brazilian government, as well as to Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
The two names appear in a secret presentation named “Intelligent filtering of data: a case study Mexico and Brazil.”
The files talk about how agents can find “a needle in a haystack” when it comes to intelligence data, namely phone records, internet data, emails and social network information.
The document dated June 2012 presents two high-profile targets, namely the president of Mexico – Enrique Pena Nieto, then a candidate for the head of state position, and Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff.
The selected targets are monitored through various methods, including phone numbers, emails and IPs. The communications are called “leaps.” For instance, ‘one leap’ is between the target and its advisors, while ‘a leap and a half’ is when the advisors talk to them. ‘Two leaps’ indicate when the targets communicate with other people.
Among the communications included in the presentation are important details such as the name of the coordinator of Social Communications of the Brazilian government, days before the information was made public.
As expected, Brazil’s officials didn’t respond well to the news. Justice Minister Eduardo Cardozo stated this is a “very serious” allegation and if the monitoring is confirmed, the situation will be classified as a “clear violation of the sovereignty of Brazil.”
A formal request for explanations will be issued for the United States and taken directly to the United Nations.
The Justice Minister also stated that this would be completely outside what’s expected from a strategic partnership, as the one between the US and Brazil.