NOVANEWS
And guess what? It wasn’t just ‘metadata’
Screen shot from Brazilian TV showing a slide from internal U.S. presentation on spy program
Screen shot of slide from presentation bragging about effectiveness of their technique
Screen shot of slide showing the interception of text messages from Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, also spied on in this project.
A major revelation from journalist Glenn Greenwald, based on documents leaked by Edward Snowden, prove that the U.S. government targeted Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff and her closest circle of advisors for detailed surveillance. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto’s communications were also closely monitored by the National Security Agency.
Greenwald has been in Brazil since he started publishing the Snowden-leaked documents. With understandable concern for his safety and his rights, Greenwald has decided to stay in Brazil where he lives with his Brazilian husband, David Miranda, also a journalist. Miranda was himself detained by British police and his media-storage devices confiscated as he passed through Heathrow London airport to Brazil. The Brazilian government protested his detention.
Greenwald has been working with the local Brazilian media on the information leaked that is related to the country.
On Sunday night in Brazil, on the program “Fantastico” of TV Globo, a major national TV station ran the story, revealing how the U.S. government had been spying on President Rousseff during the election campaign. The program showed slides of an internal U.S. government presentation classified as top secret. At the time Rousseff was the Workers’ Party candidate picked by former President Lula to continue his government. Her main opponent was José Serra from the right wing- party PSDB. Serra also was mentioned in a leak: The Wikileaks cables showed the U.S. preference for him, and their close relationship.
Right after the show was aired, it was reported on the news that Rousseff called the U.S. ambassador to meet and give an explanation—especially because in June, Ambassador Thomas Shannon spoke about the U.S. spying on Brazil, and said they were not looking at content, just metadata.
But the internal presentation about the project to spy on Rousseff celebrates how successful the project was. The surveillance system looked at Rousseff’s full range of conversations with her contacts. This type of surveillance gave the U.S. government a full overview of politics in a very delicate election for Brazil.
Not just ‘metadata’
Another important fact highlighted in the story was that they were accessing the actual content of the messages—reading emails and possibly listening to conversations. On the slide shown in the television story, one can see the “interesting messages” from Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, also spied on in this project.
According to Greenwald’s reporting, the NSA reviewed more than 85,000 texts of Peña Nieto, characterizing some as “interesting,” for its internal audience.
Contrary to what the U.S. ambassador said in June when the news of the massive surveillance in Brazil came out, that they were not looking at the content, just collecting metadata, the slides prove otherwise.
As for spying on Rousseff, the presentation indicated that the goal was to “better understand the communication methods” of her spokespersons, of Rousseff herself, and of her direct reports. However, at the end of the presentation, the NSA brags about how efficient the technique is, and recommends that it be used again, as it has shown how good it is against high-profile people who care about their communications.
Rousseff has requested a meeting with the U.S. ambassador for him to explain his government’s actions. A magazine called Istoé published last month a letter from Ambassador Shannon, who, when he served as sub-secretary for the Department of State in 2009, thanked the National Security Agency for its information about the 5th Summit of the Americas—who were the attendees, whom they were talking with and so on. Rousseff was elected president in December 2010. Shannon was named ambassador to Brazil in late December 2010.
In another slide,the NSA listed the major risks regarding other countries, for its operations with a projection over the years 2014-2019. Brazil and Turkey are listed as possible risks for regional stability. There is also a list of countries where they are not sure how to classify them: as friend, enemy or a problem.
Greenwald has been in Brazil since he started publishing the Snowden-leaked documents. With understandable concern for his safety and his rights, Greenwald has decided to stay in Brazil where he lives with his Brazilian husband, David Miranda, also a journalist. Miranda was himself detained by British police and his media-storage devices confiscated as he passed through Heathrow London airport to Brazil. The Brazilian government protested his detention.
Greenwald has been working with the local Brazilian media on the information leaked that is related to the country.
On Sunday night in Brazil, on the program “Fantastico” of TV Globo, a major national TV station ran the story, revealing how the U.S. government had been spying on President Rousseff during the election campaign. The program showed slides of an internal U.S. government presentation classified as top secret. At the time Rousseff was the Workers’ Party candidate picked by former President Lula to continue his government. Her main opponent was José Serra from the right wing- party PSDB. Serra also was mentioned in a leak: The Wikileaks cables showed the U.S. preference for him, and their close relationship.
Right after the show was aired, it was reported on the news that Rousseff called the U.S. ambassador to meet and give an explanation—especially because in June, Ambassador Thomas Shannon spoke about the U.S. spying on Brazil, and said they were not looking at content, just metadata.
But the internal presentation about the project to spy on Rousseff celebrates how successful the project was. The surveillance system looked at Rousseff’s full range of conversations with her contacts. This type of surveillance gave the U.S. government a full overview of politics in a very delicate election for Brazil.
Not just ‘metadata’
Another important fact highlighted in the story was that they were accessing the actual content of the messages—reading emails and possibly listening to conversations. On the slide shown in the television story, one can see the “interesting messages” from Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, also spied on in this project.
According to Greenwald’s reporting, the NSA reviewed more than 85,000 texts of Peña Nieto, characterizing some as “interesting,” for its internal audience.
Contrary to what the U.S. ambassador said in June when the news of the massive surveillance in Brazil came out, that they were not looking at the content, just collecting metadata, the slides prove otherwise.
As for spying on Rousseff, the presentation indicated that the goal was to “better understand the communication methods” of her spokespersons, of Rousseff herself, and of her direct reports. However, at the end of the presentation, the NSA brags about how efficient the technique is, and recommends that it be used again, as it has shown how good it is against high-profile people who care about their communications.
Rousseff has requested a meeting with the U.S. ambassador for him to explain his government’s actions. A magazine called Istoé published last month a letter from Ambassador Shannon, who, when he served as sub-secretary for the Department of State in 2009, thanked the National Security Agency for its information about the 5th Summit of the Americas—who were the attendees, whom they were talking with and so on. Rousseff was elected president in December 2010. Shannon was named ambassador to Brazil in late December 2010.
In another slide,the NSA listed the major risks regarding other countries, for its operations with a projection over the years 2014-2019. Brazil and Turkey are listed as possible risks for regional stability. There is also a list of countries where they are not sure how to classify them: as friend, enemy or a problem.
