US ambassador says he is not authorized to speak to Brazilian senators

Criado em 15/07/13 19h15 e atualizado em 16/07/13 08h18
Por Carolina Gonçalves* Edição:Carolina Pimentel / Olga Bardawil Fonte:Agência Brasil

Brasília – The United States ambassador to Brazil, Thomas Shannon, said that he has not been authorized by the US government to present explanations to the Brazilian Senate on the reports of espionage on Brazilian individuals and officials by US intelligence agencies. Shannon explained the refusal at a meeting with the president of the Senate Commission on Foreign Relations, Ricardo Ferraço (PMDB-ES), which took place at the US Embassy in Brasília on Monday (July 15).

In conversations with senator Ferraço, the ambassador reaffirmed that US intelligence agencies intensified monitoring of communications worldwide after the 9/11 attacks, but that the contents of Internet and telephone conversations are not violated. According to Shannon, the monitoring procedures are limited to identifying times, dates and interlocutors.

The press office of the US diplomatic mission to Brasília has confirmed that a technical group is coming to Brazil to give details on the US surveillance program to Brazilian authorities. 

Ferraço says he still wants to hold a public hearing with the US ambassador. “I do think he will come. This is a chance for us to talk and provide the clarifications required by Brazilians on these allegations of utmost gravity,”  the senator said.

Today, Tuesday (July 16), the Foreign Relations Commission will hear Glenn Greenwald, a journalist at the UK's The Guardian, one of the newspapers that first made public Edward Snowden's leaks on the US National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance program (Snowden is a former NSA contractor). “We want to ask a lot of questions that can help us move from evidence to facts. Many questions still haven't been answered satisfactorily,” said Ferraço, who added that he would also like to hear testimony from Edward Snowden.  

* With additional reporting by Renata Giraldi

Edition: Carolina Pimentel / Olga Bardawil
Translation: Mayra Borges / Allen Bennett

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