Press TV – September 7, 2013
Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff says she will decide on whether to call off her visit to the United States over allegations of Washington’s spying on her based on President Barack Obama’s full response.
On Friday, Obama said that his administration would work with the Brazilian and Mexican governments to resolve tensions over allegations of spying.
Obama met separately with Rousseff and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on the sidelines of G20 international economic summit in the Russian city of St. Petersburg and discussed reports that the US National Security Agency (NSA) spied on their personal communications.
Earlier on Friday, Rousseff indicated she was not completely content with Obama’s assurances that the alleged spying on her communications by the NAS would be looked into during their meeting late on Thursday.
Rousseff added that the US president had agreed to provide a fuller explanation for the reported spying by September 11, and that she would decide whether or not to visit the US next month based in part on his response.
“My trip to Washington depends on the political conditions to be created by President Obama,” Rousseff told reporters on Friday.
Brazil’s TV Globo reported on September 1 that the NSA spied on emails, phone calls and text messages of Rousseff as president and Pena Nieto when he was a candidate.
The report was based on documents released by US surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor.
Angered by the report, Rousseff and her government have asked for a more complete explanation of the alleged spying.
Brazil argues that counterterrorism or cybersecurity concerns did not sufficiently explain why the NSA would spy on Rousseff’s communications.
The Brazilian government has already canceled a trip by an advance team to prepare for Rousseff’s next month visit to Washington.
Rousseff is scheduled to visit the White House in late October to meet Obama and discuss a possible 4-billion-dollar jet fighter deal, cooperation on oil and biofuels technology between the two biggest economies in the Americas, as well as other commercial projects.