President Rousseff: Snowden Documents
Show U.S. Economic Espionage (Epoca, Brazil)
"If the facts presented in the media are confirmed, it will
be clear that the reason for the attempted violations and espionage are not
about security or counter-terrorism, but are related to economic and strategic
interests. ... the Brazilian government is determined to obtain clarification
from the government of the United States about all violations that were
ultimately carried out, and demands concrete measures be taken to definitively
do away with this offensive espionage against our human rights, our sovereignty
and our economic interests."
According to
documents leaked by Edward Snowden, Petrobras
was spied upon by the U.S. National Security Agency. In a statement, the
company said that its system is "extremely capable."
In
a statement on Monday, President DilmaRousseff said that if allegations are confirmed that the
U.S. utilized its intelligence apparatus to obtain information from Petrobras, it will be clear that its motives are economic
and strategic.
"If
the facts presented in the media are confirmed, it will be clear that the
reason for the attempted violations and espionage are not about security or counter-terrorism,
but are related to economic and strategic interests." The statement goes
on to say that while Petrobras "without doubt"
represents no threat to the security of any country, it happens to oversee one
of the largest petroleum reserves in the world and is the property of the
Brazilian people.
The
claim that Petrobras was spied on by the National
Security Agency (NSA is its English acronym) was made
via a report by TV Globo'sFantástico on Sunday evening. The
information was taken from documents leaked by former NSA
analyst Edward Snowden, who is currently an exile in Russia.
In
the statement, President Rousseffalso said that the Brazilian
government is determined to obtain clarification from the government of the
United States about all violations that were "ultimately carried out,"
in addition to "demanding concrete measures be taken to definitively do
away with the offensive espionage against our human rights, our sovereignty and
our economic interests."
Dilma said that such attempted violations and
espionage are incompatible with democratic coexistence between friendly
countries. "For our part, we will take all possible measures to protect our
country, its government, and its companies."
According
to the Fantástico
report, an NSA PowerPoint presentation used to train
new agents shows that the agency spies on private computer networks, such as
the one used by Petrobras. The name of the Brazilian
company appears right at the beginning of the presentation. In addition to the
company, targets are listed such as Google, the French diplomatic corps., and
the SWIFT
interbank network, which enables global financial transactions. It is not
possible to determine how long Petrobras has been
spied upon from the leaked document, nor what type of data the NSA accessed.
The
Brazilian company also reacted today to the case. In a statement, it said that
its system is "extremely capable" and is constantly updated to
protect its internal network [Intranet]. "The company consistently carries
out all procedures identified and recognized as best market practices in regard
to the protection of its internal network, data and information. Intranet
traffic and the flow of data between the intranet and the external environment
(the Worldwide Web) is permanently monitored by Petrobras,"
the statement says.
The
company also asserts that its employees are trained in the proper use of its computer
systems. "Internal information is classified and treated with technological
solutions, such as levels of encryption appropriate for the potential risk to Petrobras in the event the information is leaked."
Posted By
Worldmeets.US
According
to O Globo,
the NSA denies stealing information from foreign
companies. The agency says it doesn't spy on companies to obtain economic
advantage for U.S. firms. The entity said that its surveillance of companies is
used to access important information about potential economic crises.
Rousseff spied upon
The
charge of espionage against Petrobras comes a week
after Fantástico
broadcast a report showing that President DilmaRousseff and her senior advisors were spied on by the
NSA. Secret documents reveal that Dilma's telephone conversations, e-mails and communication
network were intercepted by the U.S. agency.
Those
revelations resulted in a diplomatic crisis between Brazil and the United
States. Last week, Brazil demanded explanations from U.S. officials, and
President Rousseff canceled a trip to the United
States by her team, which was to prepare for her visit to the country [for a
state visit] in October. The cancellation of the team's visit, however, does
not mean Rousseff has given up traveling to the U.S.
In
addition to this, during the G-20 Summit in St. Petersburg on Friday, President
Rousseff confirmed that Brazil wants to know "all
there is to know" about what the U.S. spy agency has gleaned from the country.
U.S. President Barack Obama, after talking to Rousseff,
said he would get to the bottom of the NSA accusations.
Obama also said that he took the allegations of espionage against Brazil and
Mexico - another country involved in the surveillance - seriously.
Espionage claims
In
recent months, former U.S. analyst Edward Snowden, who worked for the NSA, said publicly that the American government had
developed the largest program for the mass surveillance of communications in
the world.
With
the collaboration of American journalist Glenn Greenwald, to whom Snowden passed
classified documents, Época
exclusively revealed files demonstrating that the NSA
spied on eight members of the U.N. Security Council during talks about imposing
sanctions against Iran in 2010.
Later,
Época had
access to a top secret letter in which U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Thomas Shannon
Jr. thanked NSA Director General Keith Alexander for
the "exceptional" quality of information obtained in surveillance operations
against other countries on the continent, before and after the Fifth Summit of
the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago in April 2009.
In
the document, Shannon celebrates how the NSA's work
allowed the U.S. to gain an understanding of what representatives from other
countries would do at the Summit. In an interview with Época,
Minister of Communications Paulo Bernardo said that keeping data secret is part
of the diplomatic game, but that espionage during negotiations could lead to
fraud. "We are facing a scandal of global proportions," he said.
