Bugging Brazil
Press Release
WikiLeaks publishes today, 4 July at 08:00 BRT, a top secret US National Security Agency target list of 29 key Brazilian government phone numbers that were selected for intensive interception. The publication proves that not only President Dilma Rousseff was targeted but also her assistant, her secretary, her chief of staff, her Palace office and even the phone in her Presidential jet. The US targeted not only those closest to the President, but waged an economic espionage campaign against Brazil, spying on those responsible for managing Brazil's economy, including the head of its Central Bank. The US also extensively targeted Brazil's diplomacy, targeting the phones of its Foreign Minister and its ambassadors to Germany, France, the EU, the US and Geneva.
The economic targets within Brazil's government include its key Finance Ministers and even the Governor of the Brazilian Central Bank. Cabinet Minister Nelson Henrique Barbosa Filho, who served as Executive Secretary at Brazil's Ministry of Finance from 2011 to 2013 and who is now Minister of Planning, Budget and Management is on the target list, as is Antonio Palocci, Minister of Finance under former President Lula and former Dilma's Chief of Staff.
The revelation of US economic espionage against Brazil follows WikiLeaks publications earlier this week revealing US economic espionage against France, Germany and the EU.
The cell phone of Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado, former Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2015 and current Brazilian Ambassador to the US, appointed by President Rousseff, was targeted, as was the phone for Adriana Queirzo de Carvalho, Attorney General for the Finance Ministry.
