On Monday, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff demanded an explanation from the Canadian government over a media report that claims the North American country spied on Brazil’s Mines and Energy Ministry—the institution that manages the country’s mineral and oil resources. This comes only a few weeks after a similar report claimed the United States was also spying on the South American country. “That is unacceptable between nations that are supposed to be partners,” Rousseff said via Twitter. “We repudiate this cyber warfare.”
The report broadcast on Sunday by TV Globo claims that Canada’s intelligence agency, the Communication Security Establishment (CSEC), used software called Olympia to map the ministry’s communications, including Internet traffic, emails and telephone calls. Rousseff noted that there are reasons to believe the espionage had economic and strategic motives as many Canadian mining companies are operating in Brazil.
In response to these claims, Brazil’s Minister of Foreign Relations Luiz Alberto Figueiredo summoned Canada’s ambassador Jamal Khokhar to demand an explanation for what it called a “serious and unacceptable violation” of Brazilian sovereignty and the right to privacy of its citizens and companies. On the Canadian side, the spokeswoman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that “CSEC does not comment on its specific foreign intelligence activities or capabilities.” The Canadian Defense Department declined to comment.
This follows a previous disclosure that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) had spied on Rousseff’s telephone calls and emails as well as on state-run energy company Petrobras. In response to this report that came to light in mid-September, the Brazilian president canceled a state visit to the United States scheduled for October 23 and denounced this operation as a violation of human rights and international law during her address at the United Nations General Assembly.
Both reports are based on documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden who, according to the documents, attended the conference of the “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing network between the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Snowden is wanted by the U.S. after revealing details of the NSA’s massive intelligence activities, and is currently living in temporary asylum in Russia.
