BRAZIL
Written by PSTU – Brasil
Saturday, 28 December 2013 15:36
We must demand that Dilma grants asylum to the former NSA agent persecuted by the U.S.
The former intelligence agent of the National Security Agency (NSA) and the CIA, Edward Snowden, has released an “open letter to the people of Brazil” requesting asylum in Brazil. The message of the former analyst was published by the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo in December 17 and many websites and blogs on the Internet. Although he hasn’t made an explicit application for asylum for diplomatic reasons (he doesn’t want to offend the Russian government, who is currently hosting him), the – who revealed the world’s greatest spy system in history operated by the U.S. – makes it clear when stating that although he could contribute to the investigation into suspected crimes perpetrated by his country, his current condition limits his ability to do so.
The disclosure of the letter was mediated by the student David Miranda, boyfriend of Glenn Greenwald, the journalist responsible for the disclosure of Snowden’s secrets for the international press when he worked for the British newspaper The Guardian. In August, Miranda has been detained for nine hours at the London Airport, on the grounds of anti-terrorism law in the country, with mobile and electronic equipment seized by the British police.
Brazil was one of the countries targeted by U.S. surveillance system. The president Dilma Rousseff had her phone calls and emails monitored and even Petrobras[1] was a target of the espionage agencies of U.S. intelligence. As Snowden says in his letter: “Today, if you carry a cell phone in São Paulo, the NSA can and does keep track of your location: they do this 5 billion times a day to people around the world. When a person in Florianopolis visits a website, the NSA keeps a record of when it happened and what you did on that site.”
The former agent of the U.S. intelligence has been holed up for two months at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow before finally receiving temporary asylum in Russia. Snowden’s refugee status is valid for one year and lasts until mid-2014. While living in that country, Snowden has been receiving all sorts of pressure and threats by the U.S. government. Such pressure peaked in July, when the presidential airplane of Bolivia had been thwarted in its attempt to land in European airports as President Evo Morales was flying home from Moscow, on the suspicion that Edward Snowden was aboard. Under U.S. threatens France, Portugal, Italy and Spain refused permission to use their airspace or land for refueling the airplane, putting Evo’s life in danger.
Asylum now!
When Snowden fled the United States and applied for asylum to a number of countries, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry hasn’t even responded to his call. Now, even after the revelations that relate directly to Brazil, the government isn’t considering granting asylum to U.S. ex-spy, as disclosed by the Folha de S. Paulo. This unfortunate position is shared by the right opposition, as the leader of the DEM party, Ronaldo Caiado (GO), said that “I think there is nothing that dignifies this man so that Brazil gets involved with this issue at this time. This will bring more problems to Brazil in the international scene…”
Snowden revealed to the world a mega-program of espionage and is being persecuted by imperialism for this. His temporary asylum in Russia only goes half of 2014. His asylum on humanitarian grounds would be more than justified in Brazil. After the revelation of illegal U.S. spying against the country, is a crime that Brazil doesn’t grant political refuge to the analyst. Rousseff’s administration condemned the American espionage and the president canceled the trip she would make to U.S. But if she really wanted to get to the bottom of it, she would proceed to investigate the espionage program that violates Brazilian sovereignty and a step forward would be Snowden’s help. Dilma, grant asylum to Snowden!
Click here to SIGN the petition demanding asylum to Snowden in Brazil
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[1] Petrobras – the state owned Brazilian oil company.