Rousseff used her speech at the UN General Assembly to strongly criticize the US for spying on Brazil and violating its sovereignty and international law. She cancelled a state visit to the US in response to NSA surveillance including spying on her emails and intercepting communications of state companies and diplomats. While Obama did not directly address her criticisms, he acknowledged the need to balance security concerns with privacy. Rousseff proposed an international framework for internet governance and said Brazil would adopt measures to protect itself from illegal communication interception.

1. Business & Financial News, Breaking US & International News | Reuters.com
Page 1 of 2
» Print
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to colleagues, clients or
customers, use the Reprints tool at the top of any article or visit: www.reutersreprints.com.
At U.N., Brazil's Rousseff blasts U.S. spying as
breach of law
Tue, Sep 24 2013
By Daniel Trotta
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff used her
position as the opening speaker at the U.N. General Assembly to accuse the
United States of violating human rights and international law through espionage
that included spying on her email.
Rousseff had expressed her displeasure last week by calling off a high-profile
state visit to the United States scheduled for October over reports that the U.S.
National Security Agency had been spying on Brazil.
In unusually strong language, Rousseff launched a blistering attack on U.S.
surveillance, calling it an affront to Brazilian sovereignty and "totally
unacceptable."
"Tampering in such a manner in the lives and affairs of other countries is a
breach of international law and, as such, it is an affront to the principles that
should otherwise govern relations among countries, especially among friendly nations," Rousseff told the annual gathering of world
leaders at the United Nations.
She also proposed an international framework for governing the internet and said Brazil would adopt legislation and technology to
protect it from illegal interception of communications.
"Information and telecommunication technologies cannot be the new battlefield between states. Time is ripe to create the conditions
to prevent cyberspace from being used as a weapon of war, through espionage, sabotage, and attacks against systems and
infrastructure of other countries," Rousseff said.
U.S. President Barack Obama was en route to the United Nations while Rousseff spoke. Speaking immediately after Rousseff, he
avoided direct reference to her criticism.
"We have begun to review the way that we gather intelligence, so as to properly balance the legitimate security concerns of our
citizens and allies, with the privacy concerns that all people share," said Obama, who concentrated mostly on the crisis in Syria and
the prospects for a diplomatic opening with Iran.
Rousseff rejected the U.S. government reasoning that the NSA surveillance was aimed at detecting suspected terrorist activity and
she accused the agency of engaging in industrial espionage.
Rousseff said she had asked Washington for explanations, an apology and promises the surveillance would never be repeated.
Postponing the state visit was a rare and diplomatically severe snub by Brazil. While foreign leaders frequently visit the White
House, state visits are reserved for special occasions and include an elaborate state dinner. No new date has been set.
Rousseff's state visit was conceived to highlight cooperation between the two biggest economies in the Americas and Brazil's
emergence over the past decade as a regional power.
Ties between the United States and Brazil had been improving steadily since Rousseff took office in 2011. The cancellation could
harm cooperation on trade, regional affairs and other issues at a time of growing influence from China, which has surpassed the
United States as Brazil's leading trade partner.
The trip had been seen as a platform for deals on oil exploration and biofuels technology, and Brazil's potential purchase of fighter
jets from Chicago-based Boeing Co.
A report by Brazil Globo's news program Fantastico on National Security Agency spying was based on documents that journalist
Glenn Greenwald obtained from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Greenwald, who lives in Rio de Janeiro, was one of the
journalists to first report Snowden's leaks of classified information on previously secret U.S. telephone and internet surveillance
efforts.
The report also said the United States intercepted communications of Brazilian state oil company Petrobras and Mexican President
Enrique Pena Nieto before he assumed office.
"Personal data of citizens was intercepted indiscriminately," Rousseff said in her U.N. speech.
"Corporate information, often of high economic and even strategic value, was at the center of espionage activity. Also, Brazilian
diplomatic missions, among them the permanent mission to the United Nations and the office of the president of the republic itself,
had their communications intercepted."
(Additional reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Will Dunham and Claudia Parsons)
© Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this website for their own
personal and non-commercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar
http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USBRE98N0OJ20130924
10/3/2013

2. Business & Financial News, Breaking US & International News | Reuters.com
Page 2 of 2
means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters and its logo are registered
trademarks or trademarks of the Thomson Reuters group of companies around the world.
Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant
interests.
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to colleagues, clients or
customers, use the Reprints tool at the top of any article or visit: www.reutersreprints.com.
http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USBRE98N0OJ20130924
10/3/2013