* Brazilian foreign minister warns of “shadow of distrust”
* Kerry vows U.S. to respect “our friends and our partners”
By Anthony Boadle
BRASILIA, Aug 13 (Reuters) – The United States pledged on
Tuesday that Brazil and other allies will get answers about
American communications surveillance aimed at thwarting
terrorism, but gave no indication it would change the way it
gathers such information.
Secretary of State John Kerry urged Brazil not to let recent
revelations of secret internet surveillance by the United States
derail growing trade, diplomatic and cultural relations between
the two largest economies in the Americas.
“Brazil is owed answers and will get them,” Kerry said on
his first visit to Brasilia as the top U.S. diplomat.
“Brazil and other countries will understand exactly what we
are doing, why and how – and we will work together to make sure
that whatever is done is done in a way that respects our friends
and our partners,” he added.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota said his country
needs more than explanations for the recent disclosures of
surveillance of emails and telephone conversations of Brazilians
by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA).
“We need to stop practices that violate the sovereignty (of
nations), relations of trust between states and individual
liberties,” Patriota said at a news conference after meeting
with Kerry.
“Today we face a new type of challenge in our relations, a
challenge related to the news of interception of the electronic
and telephone communications of Brazilians,” Patriota said.
“If this challenge is not resolved satisfactorily, we run
the risk of casting a shadow of distrust on our work,” he said.
Kerry’s first official visit to South America as secretary
of state is taking place under the cloud of revelations about
U.S. global surveillance programs made by former NSA
contractor Edward Snowden, who was granted a year’s asylum by
Russia on Aug. 1.
The spying has sparked particular concern in Latin American
countries, many of which have long complained about U.S.
infringements on their sovereignty. Brazil has been particularly
vocal in its complaints.
Kerry was in the Brazilian capital to prepare for a state
visit by President Dilma Rousseff to the White House in October
that underscores the importance the United States gives to its
ties with Brazil.
PROTECTING BRAZILIANS
Kerry said the United States gathers foreign intelligence of
the type collected by all nations to protect their citizens, and
U.S. intelligence has helped protect not just Americans but the
populations of other countries, including Brazil.
Last month, the Brazilian newspaper O Globo published
documents leaked by Snowden that showed that the NSA targeted
Latin American countries with spying programs that can monitor
billions of emails and phone calls for suspicious activity.
In Brazil, angry senators questioned the state visit that
Rousseff plans to make to Washington on Oct. 23, and the
possible multibillion-dollar purchase of fighter jets from the
United States.
The F/A-18 fighter jet made by Boeing Co had been
favored to beat out French and Swedish warplane makers for the
coveted contract, but a Brazilian official told Reuters that
Brazil would not discuss the deal with the United States due to
the distrust caused by the spying disclosures.
The surveillance controversy set off by Snowden has roiled
relations between the United States and Brazil just as they
seemed to be improving under Rousseff, a pragmatic leftist.
Relations between chilled under her predecessor and mentor
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who drew Brazil closer to Latin
America’s leftist governments and to Iran.
The United States was the largest foreign investor in Brazil
last year, with total accumulated investments of $100 billion.
Two-way trade has increased 11 percent in the past five years to
$59 billion a year.
Brazilian officials believe relations between the two
countries are strong enough to put the spying matter behind
them, though they want a better explanation than they have
received so far from Washington on the extent of U.S.
surveillance of Brazil’s communications.
“Things are settling. It’s something we just need to talk
through,” said a senior U.S. government official, speaking on
condition of anonymity.
The O Globo report based on Snowden’s leaks “really set
things off” because it played to elements in Brazil that are not
pro-American, but most of Brazil’s government and people are,
the official said.
(Additional reporting by Warren Strobel; Editing by Will
Dunham)
