Brazil cancels preparation for Dilma’s U.S. tour

September 05, 2013 11:13 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 09:30 pm IST - Sao Paulo

The tense relations between Brazil and U.S. became worse on Thursday as preparations for President Dilma Rousseff’s visit to Washington was cancelled over reports that she was the target of National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance. A presidential spokesperson said that a trip to Washington by a Brazilian delegation next Saturday to prepare for the President’s October 23 visit to the White House “was cancelled.”

Relations between the two American nations have been rocky since it was revealed in July that the U.S. agency was collecting phone and Internet data from Brazil. Last Sunday, there was outrage in the countryt after it was revealed in a Globo TV report by The Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald that phone, e-mails and texts of Ms. Rousseff were targeted by NSA. The Brazilian government had denounced the NSA surveillance as “impermissible and unacceptable” and a violation of Brazilian sovereignty.

After the disclosure, Ms. Rousseff had threatened to refuse the invitation of President Barack Obama. But there is no confirmation yet if the visit has been cancelled. The preparatory trip can be rescheduled.

A Brazilian official said on Wednesday that Ms. Rousseff was set to take punitive action in addition to cancelling the visit, which could include a halt on plans to purchase F-18 Super Hornet fighters from Chicago-based Boeing Co.

On Wednesday, Brazil announced an investigation into domestic telecommunications firms had been launched to determine if they had illegally shared data with the NSA.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.