Obama and Rousseff take climate focus, turn page on spy row

The leaders of Brazil and the US have pledged to work towards visa-free travel and increased use of renewable energy. Brazil's Dilma Rousseff labeled the talks a "relaunch" of relations following the NSA spying scandal.

Deutsche Welle, 30 June 2015

US President Barack Obama and his Brazilian counterpart, Dilma Rousseff, announced "ambitious" plans to increase use of renewable energy and reduce deforestation, at joint press conference in Washington on Tuesday.

Both countries aim for one-fifth of their energy consumption to be supplied from renewable sources by 2030.

"These are very ambitious goals, a near tripling for the United States and more than double Brazil's current output," said Obama.

The leaders hope to present a collective front at UN-sponsored climate talks in Paris in late November and December.

The heads of state also discussed trade and defense cooperation, and agreed to take steps so that Americans and Brazilians can travel between the two countries without visas.

Turning the page on the spy row

The diplomatic trip, which started Monday, was originally planned for 2013. However, it was delayed when documents released by Edward Snowden showed that the US National Security Agency had tapped Rousseff's telephone calls and those of millions of other Brazilians.

On Tuesday, Rousseff called the visit a "relaunch" of relations between Washington and Brasilia, following a bitter row.

"Since then, some things have changed," she said, citing assurances that the US would no longer spy on leaders in allied countries. "I believe President Obama," Rousseff added.

"He has told me that, should he ever need non-public information about Brazil, he would just pick up the phone and call me."

Rousseff also praised the American president over the thaw in relations with Cuba, saying the rapprochement improved US standing across Latin America.

In turn, Obama hailed Brazil as a "global player" and pointed to good relations with Rousseff.

"I trust her completely," Obama said. "She's always been very candid and frank with me about the interests of the Brazilian people and how we can work together. She's delivered on what she's promised."

After Washington, Rousseff will be heading to Silicon Valley to meet with executives at Google, Apple and Facebook.

dj/jr (AFP, dpa, Reuters)

Obama und Rousseff - end of the freeze?

Ever since the NSA's spying on Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff came to light, relations between Brasilia and Washington have been particularly icy. The G20 meeting in Australia brought the leaders face to face.

Deutsche Welle, 16 Nov 2014

For more than a year, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has been waiting in vain for an apology from her American counterpart Barack Obama. It was over twelve months ago when the story broke that the NSA had spied not only on Brazilian businesses and citizens, but also on the president herself.

Unlike German Chancellor Angela Merkel, no one suspected Rousseff of feigning her outrage. She immediately cancelled her planned state visit to the White House in September 2013. Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and US Secretary of State John Kerry all renewed the invitation several times, but Rousseff has doggedly refused, and Obama has still not issued a personal apology, or indeed even considered such an apology necessary. If he had, he could have easily done it shortly after the fact at the 2013 G20 meeting in St Petersburg. Another chance to approach one another came at this year's summit in Australia.

The G20 meeting in 2013 yielded no
relaxation of tensions

Neither friend nor enemy

Traditionally, the relationship between the two countries has been good, if not particularly strong. "Brazil has always viewed the US hegemony skeptically," Matthew Taylor, political researcher at American University in Washington, DC, told the BBC recently. The problems are much more deeply rooted than any personal animosities.

The relationship blossomed for a short period during the presidency of Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1994-2001), who threw his support behind the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), a proposal that came from President George H. W. Bush. This was quickly cut short by Cardoso's successor Lula da Silva, who - along with other Latin American heads of state - condemned the plan as another tool of US domination. Brazil's complaint to the World Trade Organization against US cottons subsidies did the rest, although larger diplomatic complications never came to pass.

The two largest economies in the Americas remain far removed from any free trade agreement. Juan Carlos Hildalgo, Latin American analyst from the CATO Institute in Washington, offers this to consider: "In her first term, Dilma Rousseff focused even more than her predecessor da Silva on South-South cooperation." And when it comes to the North, a relationship with the European Union is more important than the United States.

Altogether, the EU is Brazil's most important trade partner, accounting for more than one fifth of Brazil's foreign trade. China and the US follow with around one-sixth of foreign trade combined.

Brazil's share of US trade on the other hand is well below three percent. For the United States, the development of relations with the EU and China has priority over partnerships in the Americas.

Together with Angela Merkel, Dilma
 Rousseff has launched a UN-initiative
against US spying

Mutual disinterest

But the US and Brazil are planning a visa deal to ease entry from both sides. And Obama has recently showed more interest in Latin America. Yet more pressing questions are plaguing both leaders: Obama's forces are in demand in Syria and Ukraine. At home he is fighting to secure his legacy against a Republican-dominated Congress. And Dilma Rousseff is heavily involved in the after-effects of her reelection in late October: She must put together a new cabinet with which to lead her country out of the economic doldrums.

Now, the two leaders have had to face each other at the G20 summit in Australia. Obama had already congratulated Rousseff on her reelection, and expressed his desire to meet her in Brisbane. "There will be polite exchanges, but certainly no substantial strides in relations," hypothesized Marcos Troyjo, leader of the BRIC lab at Columbia University in New York.

Political scientist Paz Neves also doesn't hold out much home for rapid convergence: "In the White House, there are approximately two state receptions per year. Rousseff isn't going to get another invitation so quickly."

But if anyone is supposed to make a move, says Paz Neves, it's the Brazilian president who should give a sign: "The ball is clearly in Dilma Rousseff's court."

Brazil market slides after Rousseff re-elected

Yahoo – AFP, Chris Wright, 27 Oct 2014

Re-elected Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (L) greets former Brazilian president

 Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva following her win, as her Vice President Michel Temer (R)

looks on, in Brasilia on October 26, 2014 (AFP Photo/Evaristo Sa)

Re-elected Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (L) greets former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva following her win, as her Vice President Michel Temer (R) looks on, in Brasilia on October 26, 2014

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Brazilian markets delivered a harsh verdict Monday after left-wing President Dilma Rousseff narrowly won re-election, despite her pledge to unite a divided nation and reboot a stagnant economy.

The Sao Paulo stock market plunged six percent in opening trade and the currency, the real, fell four percent against the dollar after Rousseff -- the first woman to lead the world's seventh-largest economy -- defeated business world favorite Aecio Neves in a run-off.

Supporters of re-elected President Dilma

 Rousseff celebrate in Brasilia on Oct. 26,

2014 (AFP Photo/Evaristo Sa)

Stocks had recovered slightly by mid-day but were still down 4.7 percent, with the real off more than two percent.

State-owned oil giant Petrobras, which was thrust into the campaign spotlight by a multi-billion-dollar kickback scandal implicating politicians linked to Rousseff, was down 15 percent.

After a vitriolic campaign that largely split the country between the poor north and the wealthier south, Rousseff won 51.6 percent of the vote to 48.4 percent for Neves, the closest margin of victory since 1945.

The 66-year-old incumbent crucially picked up enough middle-class votes in the industrialized southeast to cement a fourth straight win for her Workers' Party (PT).

She will start her second four-year term on January 1 facing a laundry list of challenges: governing a polarized country, winning back the confidence of the private sector, reviving an economy in recession and tackling corruption.

"Rousseff will have her work cut out, politically and on the economy," said David Fleischer, a political analyst at the University of Brasilia.

"She must reach out to industry and the private sector. Investments are way down -- she must restore confidence."

Tackling the economy will be all the more difficult given a market implacably opposed to her.

"There is polarization -- and that is a negative. But there is pressure within her party for Rousseff to change course," said Lia Valls, an economist with the Getulio Vargas Foundation.

Rousseff has promised to replace Finance Minister Guido Mantega, and markets are watching closely to see who she names.

Reach out to industry

Rousseff, a former leftist guerrilla jailed and tortured for fighting Brazil's 1964-1985 dictatorship, called for unity in her victory speech and promised to listen to voters' demands for change after a record 26.1 percent of voters abstained.

Supporters of Brazilian President and presidential candidate for the Workers Party, 

Dilma Rousseff, celebrate in Brasilia on October 26, 2014 (AFP Photo/Evaristo Sa)

Voting is compulsory in Brazil -- but a no-show just brings a small fine.

"This president is open to dialogue. This is the top priority of my second term," she told supporters in the capital Brasilia alongside two-term predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who media predict will have a key role in reshaping her new team.

After four years of low growth culminating in recession this year, Rousseff admitted she must do better.

"I want to be a much better president than I have been to date," she said, issuing "a call for peace and unity" after a bitter campaign of low blows and mutual recriminations.

Lula, who remains broadly popular, recognized the country's deep division Monday in remarks published in local newspapers.

"Coexisting will now be increasingly difficult," he said.

"Rather than complain, we have to think about constructing a functioning government in the country."

Call for unity

Neves, a 54-year-old senator and former governor, congratulated Rousseff but told her "the priority should be to unite Brazil."

Rousseff won after persuading enough voters from a growing middle class to pin their hopes on further social gains that have lifted tens of millions out of poverty.

Under the PT, wages have increased and unemployment has fallen to a record-low 4.9 percent.

People queue at a polling station in Mare,

 a complex of favelas in Rio de Janeiro, 

Brazil, on October 26, 2014 (AFP Photo/

Vanderlei Almeida)

But economic growth -- which hit 7.5 percent in 2010, the year Rousseff first won election -- has since stagnated.

Besides an economic revival, voters are demanding an overhaul of shoddy public services and an end to corruption.

Rousseff roundly denied eve-of-poll allegations that she knew of the massive embezzlement scheme implicating dozens of politicians -- mainly her allies -- at Petrobras.

Rousseff fought a hard-hitting campaign throughout a dramatic race in which the lead changed hands several times, fending off both Neves and, in the October 5 first-round vote, popular environmentalist Marina Silva.

US President Barack Obama sent his congratulations, calling Brazil an "important partner."

His relationship with Rousseff has been strained since revelations emerged that the US spied on her communications, part of the National Security Agency (NSA) leaks by former intelligence analyst Edward Snowden.

Numerous Latin American leftist leaders also sent congratulations, including Presidents Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia.

Xi and Putin look to bolster influence in Latin America

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-07-15

Xi Jinping shakes hands with Vladimir Putin in Fortaleza, Brazil, on July 14,
2014. (Photo/Xinhua)

Chinese president Xi Jinping and Russian president Vladimir Putin are looking to bolster their countries' influence in Latin America amid rising anti-US sentiment in the region, reports Duowei News, an outlet run by overseas Chinese.

Washington has long viewed Latin America as its "backyard," Duowei said, dating back 200 years to the Monroe Doctrine, a US foreign policy stating that further efforts by European nations to interfere with states in North or South America would be viewed as acts of aggression requiring US intervention.

The doctrine, along with the related Roosevelt Corollary from the early 20th century–which states that the US will intervene in European-Latin American conflicts to enforce legitimate European claims on their behalf, rather than having Europeans press their claims directly–have allowed the US to keep its hold on Latin America, treating it as a testing ground for US hegemony and power politics, Duowei said.

According to Duowei, US control of the region began to slip from the 1970s as Latin America began to resent Washington's influence, sparking a "de-Americanization" movement. After the end of the Cold War, Washington tried to increase its economic influence in Latin America by pushing liberal reforms, but the strategy has depreciated Latin American currencies and failed to bring the economic prosperity originally envisioned, leading to an even stronger backlash, Duowei said.

This eventually led to the establishment of regional economic and political blocs, starting with the signing of an economic integration agreement between Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia in the Cuban capital of Havana on April 29, 2006. The Union of South American Nations formed in May 2008, while the Bank of the South was established in September 2009 by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela. From October 2008, Brazil and Argentina also declared that they would gradually abandon the US dollar in bilateral trade.

The global financial crisis in 2008 also hit the US hard and greatly diminished its international influence, including in Latin America, paving the way for traditional rivals such as China and Russia to make inroads into the region. Latin America, for its part, has been welcoming toward Chinese and Russian investment as a means to speed up the de-Americanization trend, Duowei added.

Venezuela, for example, has welcomed China as an export destination for its oil so that it can lessen its reliance on the US market. China's imports of Venezuelan oil have been rising steadily to the point where China is now Venezuela's fourth largest oil export destination. In June 2013, Nicaragua also approved a bill to grant a 50-year concession to the Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Company to build the landmark waterway.

Last year, US Secretary of State John Kerry declared that the Monroe Doctrine is "over," but that has done little to win back trust from Latin America, Duowei said, especially when former CIA staffer and whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that the US National Security Agency spied on phone conversations, emails and voice-over-IP services in Brazil and 13 other Latin American countries, including Columbia and Mexico. This led to Bolivia, Nicaragua and Venezuela offering Snowden political asylum, while Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff canceled her scheduled trip to the US.

Chinese president Xi Jinping raised eyebrows last year when he made a trip to Central and North America as one of his first official state visits and signed deals that showed off China's economic prowess, Duowei said. He will soon be visiting Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Cuba between July 17 and July 23. His Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, in an effort to find new economic partners after being isolated by the West due to the Crimea crisis earlier this year, will visit Cuba, Argentina and Brazil between July 17 and July 23. Both leaders will appear at the sixth BRICS Summit in Brazil on July 15 and July 16.

Washington does not appear ready to give up its "backyard," Duowei says, which is why US vice president Joe Biden made a trip to Latin America between June 16 and June 19 ahead of Xi and Putin's visits, but given the rising tide of anti-US sentiment and the desire to de-Americanize, it appears Chinese and Russian presence in Latin America will only keep growing stronger, Duowei said.　

South American leaders to attend 6th BRICS Summit

The BRICS Post, June 11, 2014

The 2014 Summit’s debates will focus on the theme “BRICS – inclusive
growth: sustainable solutions” [gov.br]

The Brazilian cities of Fortaleza and Brasilia will host the 6th BRICS Summit on the 14th, 15th, and 16th July, an event that will showcase the growing economic clout of the five countries.

The 2014 Summit’s debates will focus on the theme “BRICS – inclusive growth: sustainable solutions”.

As part of a BRICS outreach strategy to emerging economies, a working session will be held on 16th July between the heads of states of BRICS and their counterparts from the governments of South American nations. Argentina had expressed interest in joining the powerful bloc, although BRICS have ruled out expansion of the group for now.

BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting, Trade Ministers meeting, Development Bank Presidents meeting, Business Forum and a session of the BRICS Business Council will be held on 14th July in Fortaleza.

The $100 billion Contingency Reserve Arrangement (CRA) will be launched at this year’s Summit and final details of the New Development Bank (NBD) will also be unveiled.

In the Durban Summit last year, leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa had approved a $100 billion fund to combat currency crises.

“The establishment of a self-managed contingent reserve arrangement would have a positive precautionary effect, help BRICS countries forestall short-term liquidity pressures, provide mutual support and further strengthen financial stability,” South African President Jacob Zuma said after the five BRICS leaders met in Durban in March.

BRICS have 43 per cent of the world’s population and total foreign-currency reserves of $4.4 trillion.

Brazilian Ambassador José Alfredo Graça Lima addressing a press conference in Brasilia on Tuesday said the keenly awaited BRICS Bank will finance infrastructure and sustainable development projects.

Developing nations have long complained that the World Bank and International Monetary Fund are failing to address underdevelopment and Western nations have too much say over the management of these institutions.

The BRICS Bank’s start-up capital of $50 billion would eventually be built up to $100 billion. Russia has proposed that each member contributes an equal, 20 per cent share. All the members of BRICS except Brazil has proposed to host the Bank.

Social inclusion and sustainable development will be in focus during this year’s summit.

The 6th Summit will inaugurate the second cycle of BRICS, with each member country hosting one summit each.

The African Union attended last year’s Summit as observers even as BRICS countries try to increase bilateral trade with the continent. Meanwhile, the invitation this year to Latin American heads of states comes as the region tries to match the inspiring growth rates of above 4.3 per cent of 2004-11.

Meanwhile, South American nations are also jointly exploring the creation of a communications system to curtail US spying in the region.

Latin American countries raised a storm of protest after, according to US NSA leaks by former contractor Edward Snowden, the agency spied on an array of nations in the region, including Brazil.

The meet in Brasilia with a congregation of BRICS and South American leaders in attendance could call for an end to mass surveillance like the one carried out the US intelligence agency and gross invasions of privacy.

TBP

Brazil passes online privacy law as Web governance conference starts in Sao Paulo

Deutsche Welle, 23 April 2014

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has ratified a bill guaranteeing Internet privacy and access to the Web. It comes as Sao Paulo hosts a global conference on Internet governance.

The legislation, which was passed by parliament late on Tuesday, puts limits on the metadata that can be collated from Internet users in Brazil. It also makes Internet service providers not liable for content published by their users and requires them to comply with court orders to remove offensive material.

Rousseff, who was in Sao Paulo for the opening of the NetMundial global conference on Internet governance, has been at the forefront of efforts to formally recognize Internet freedom and privacy.

Rousseff has been pushing for
measures on Internet governance

Last year, when it was revealed that she had been under surveillance by the National Security Agency (NSA), Rousseff cancelled a state visit to the US and started to champion Internet freedom and privacy.

Speaking at the opening of NetMundial, she said that "the Internet we want will only be possible in a scenario of respect for human rights, in particular the right to privacy and freedom of expression."

Despite her differences with the US, Rousseff praised Washington for its decision to hand over the management of ICANN and IANA, which manage the Internet's global domain name system, next September.

"I salute the US government's recently announced plan to replace its links to IANA and ICANN with a global management of those institutions," she said on Wednesday.

During the two-day conference, government officials, industry executives and academics from around the world are expected to agree on a set of principles to enhance online privacy that does not overly restrict the Internet's self-regulated nature.

They will also debate how to govern the Internet after the US hands over the reins at ICANN. The meeting's resolutions are non-binding, but Brazil hopes they can serve as the foundation for further discussions on Internet governance.

The main challenge is to find common ground between different governments and corporate Internet giants like Facebook and Google, who are opposed to more regulation.

ng/rc (AP, Reuters)

Rousseff backs EU-Brazil cable project

Deutsche Welle, 24 February 2014

Brazil and the EU plan to establish a communications network complete with undersea cable to circumvent the US National Security Agency. It's the outcome of a visit to Brussels by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

Brazil and the EU welcomed on Monday a German proposal to create a European network to avert US surveillance. At a summit in Brussels, Rousseff said the joint project would "guarantee the neutrality" of the Internet.

Brazilian telecoms provider Telebras and Spain's IslaLink plan major shares in the cable project priced at $185 million (135 million euros). European and Brazilian pension funds would put up the remainder.

The cable would span the Atlantic Ocean, from the Portuguese capital Lisbon to Fortaleza in northeastern Brazil.

Last year, it emerged that the National Security Agency (NSA) had spied on Rousseff's email and phone communications. US President Barack Obama apologized to Merkel for surveillance of her mobile phone.

"We have to respect privacy, human rights and the sovereignty of nations. We don't want businesses to be spied upon," Rouseff told a news conference in the presence of top EU officials.

"We will continue to enhance data protection and global privacy standards," said President Herman Van Rompuy.

Brussels has since scrutinized EU-Us agreements on data transfers, demanding increased guarantees for the protection of data of citizens in the EU.

The EU is a major trading partner with Brazil, receiving more than 20 percent of Brazil's exports and accounting for a similar share of its imports.

Talks on a long-envisaged free-trade deal were however delayed at the summit, officials said.

ipj/dr (dpa, AFP, Reuters)

Access to one of the building's floors requires US
government clearance

Related Articles:

Behind the scenes of Latin America's internet 'brain'

Internet governance too US-centric, says European commission

US under fire in global press freedom report

Google -  AFP, 12 February 2014

Protestors hold up placards featuring a picture of former NSA contractor Edward

 Snowden and with the world Asylum on it during a march against the spying methods

 of the US in Hamburg, northern Germany on December 28, 2013 (DPA/AFP/File,

Bodo Marks)

Paris — Conflicts continued to weigh heavily on the media last year but press freedom was also under increasing threat from abuses by democracies like the United States, Reporters Without Borders said Wednesday.

In its annual World Press Freedom Index, the Paris-based media rights watchdog warned of the "growing threat worldwide" from the "tendency to interpret national security needs in an overly broad and abusive manner".

The United States was singled out for its pursuit of intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, the conviction of WikiLeaks informer Bradley Manning and the secret seizure of phone records from the Associated Press.

The group, known by its French acronym RSF, said the United States had suffered "one of the most significant declines" in press freedom last year, dropping 13 places to 46th in the 180-country index, wedged between Romania and Haiti.

"Countries that pride themselves on being democracies and respecting the rule of law have not set an example, far from it," RSF said.

Syria remained especially deadly for journalists last year, with RSF reporting nearly 130 media professionals killed in the country since its conflict began in March 2011.

Syria's overall ranking of fourth from the bottom was unchanged, but RSF has raised concerns about a surge in kidnappings.

Armed conflicts hurt press freedom elsewhere, with Mali falling 22 spots to 122nd and the Central African Republic dropping 43 places to 109th.

The top-ranked countries were Finland, The Netherlands and Norway, unchanged from last year.

At the bottom again were Eritrea, North Korea and Turkmenistan, described by RSF as "news and information black holes and living hells for the journalists who inhabit them".

Britain dropped three places in the ranking to 33rd, with RSF blaming the "disgraceful pressure" it put on newspaper The Guardian over its reporting of Snowden's revelations of widespread spying by the US National Security Agency.

In Asia, Japan dropped five spots to 59th, with RSF criticising the adoption late last year of a new "intelligence protection" law that stiffens penalties for those who spill state secrets.

China, which dropped one spot to 175th, "continues to censor and jail dissident bloggers and journalists", RSF said.

Bulgaria remained the lowest-ranked European Union country in the index, but was "closely challenged" by Greece, which is ranked 99th after years of financial pressure on the media and some violence against journalists.

The report also highlighted "noteworthy rises" in countries where "violence against journalists, direct censorship and misuse of judicial proceedings are on the decline" -- including in Panama, Ecuador, Bolivia and the Dominican Republic.

Here are some selected rankings from the index:

1. Finland

2. The Netherlands

3. Norway

...

14. Germany

16. Ireland

18. Canada

23. Belgium

28. Australia

33. Britain

39. France

42. South Africa

46. United States

59. Japan

109. Central African Republic

111. Brazil

112. Nigeria

122. Mali

127. Ukraine

140. India

148. Russia

152. Mexico

154. Turkey

158. Pakistan

159. Egypt

...

177. Syria

178. Turkmenistan

179. North Korea

180. Eritrea

Related Article:

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“…  Government

Let us speak of government. We're not speaking of your government, but of any government - the way it works, how it survives, how it has survived, the way it campaigns, and how it elects leaders. It's going to change.

Years ago, I told you, "When everybody can talk to everybody, there can be no secrets." Up to this point on this planet, government has counted on one thing - that the people can't easily talk to each other on a global scale. They have to get their information through government or official channels. Even mass media isn't always free enough, for it reports that which the government reports. Even a free society tends to bias itself according to the bias of the times. However, when you can have Human Beings talking to each other all at once, all over the planet without government control, it all changes, for there is open revelation of truth.. …”

UN passes anti-spying resolution

Google – AFP, 26 November 2013

Picture taken on November 9, 2012 shows German Chancellor Angela Merkel

using her mobile phone in Berlin (DPA/AFP/File, Kay Nietfeld)

UNITED NATIONS (United States) — A UN rights committee on Tuesday passed a "right to privacy" resolution pressed by Germany and Brazil, which have led international outrage over reports of US spying on their leaders.

The resolution says that surveillance and data interception by governments and companies "may violate or abuse human rights."

Fifty-five countries, including France, Russia and North Korea, co-sponsored the text which did not name any target but made lightly veiled references to spying which has put the US National Security Agency at the center of global controversy.

Brazil and Germany launched the initiative after reports leaked by former US intelligence operative Edward Snowden that the NSA had listened in to the mobile phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the office communications of Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff.

Germany's UN ambassador Peter Wittig said it was the first time a UN body has taken a stand on "online" human rights and the resolution sent an important "political message."

The resolution "emphasizes that unlawful and arbitrary surveillance and the interception of communications are highly intrusive acts that violate the right to privacy and may also violate the freedom of expression," Wittig told the UN General Assembly's human rights committee.

"Human rights should prevail irrespective of the medium and therefore need to be protected both offline and online," added Brazil's UN envoy Antonio Patriota.

"States should refrain from and be held accountable for any act that violate these rights, including the right to privacy," he added.

The United States and key allies Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand -- who together make up the so-called "Five-Eyes" intelligence group -- joined a consensus vote passing the resolution after language suggesting that foreign spying would be a rights violation was weakened.

The resolution said the UN committee is "deeply concerned at the negative impact" that surveillance and interception of communications "including extraterritorial surveillance" can have on human rights.

Germany and Brazil had wanted the text to say the assembly was "deeply concerned at human rights violations and abuses that may result from the conduct of any surveillance of communications, including extraterritorial surveillance of communications."

Under the resolution, UN human rights chief Navi Pillay will prepare a report on domestic and "extra-territorial" privacy. Wittig also promised a "thorough" debate on the issue at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

US deputy ambassador Elizabeth Cousens gave backing to the initiative.

She did not mention the NSA controversy, but told the committee: "In some cases, conduct that violates privacy rights may also seriously impede or even prevent the exercise of freedom of expression, but conduct that violates privacy rights does not violate the right to freedom of expression in every case."

Indonesia, which is involved in a battle with Australia over allegations of spying on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, spoke out strongly for the resolution.

North Korea, one of the world's most tightly controlled countries and an unlikely ally backing the resolution, used the meeting to slam US spying.

North Korean ambassador Sin Son-Ho accused the United States of "hypocrisy and deception" in condemning other countries' human rights records.

Human Rights Watch specialist Philippe Bolopion said it was unfortunate that the resolution had been watered down.

But he said it was "a vital first step toward stigmatizing indiscriminate global surveillance."

The non-binding resolution will now go to the full 193-member UN General Assembly for a vote.

US Senator Christopher Murphy (r) congressman Gregory Meeks speak
in Berlin over the NSA scandal. Photo: dpa

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Indonesia,Australia take steps to calm spy row

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Germany and Brazil circulate UN draft resolution on condemning surveillance

Brazil demands explanation over US spying on IMF

Google - AFP, 13 November 2013

Brazil called an unscheduled meeting of the International Monetary Fund executive

 board Wednesday to discuss reports that the United States spied on the institution,

the country's IMF representative told AFP (AFP/File, Yuri Gripas)

Washington — Brazil called an unscheduled meeting of the International Monetary Fund executive board Wednesday to discuss reports that the United States spied on the institution, the country's IMF representative told AFP.

"A meeting was held on my request... I wanted to have some explanations," said Brazil's executive director at the IMF, Paulo Nogueira Batista.

Nogueira Batista would not divulge what was said at the meeting, citing the directors' obligation to keep their discussions confidential.

But the meeting was the first public sign from the institution of anger over reports that the US National Security Agency had extended its massive efforts to spy on both US rivals and allies to the IMF and the World Bank.

According to news reports late last month, citing unnamed US officials, President Barack Obama ordered the NSA to end its electronic surveillance of the two global financiers.

But the White House officially has not acknowledged that it spied on them.

Nogueira Batista, whose government has directly protested to Washington over the NSA's purported tapping of the email of President Dilma Rousseff, said as the country's executive director at the IMF he had a right to call the unscheduled executive board meeting.

He said that IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde did not attend the meeting.

Both the IMF and the World Bank have refused to comment officially on the issue.

"We are aware of the news report and have no comment to offer at this stage," an IMF spokeswoman told AFP Wednesday.