Q&A: Will Brazil Take Punitive Measures Against U.S. over Allegations of Spying?
Q&A: Will Brazil Take Punitive Measures Against U.S. over Allegations of Spying?
AS/COA’s Eric Farnsworth speaks to Radio France Internationale on whether Brazil may take punitive actions against the U.S. after alleged surveillance operations.
A: "It's unclear. My understanding is that the president has called an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss it; it will determine what sort of measures it may take coming out of it. It's a little bit unclear what steps they could take beyond the rhetorical disapproval and strong condemnations. It's unlikely that the president will go so far as to, for example, cancel the state visit that she's planning to take to Washington on October 23, but it depends how significant the Brazilians believe this to be and I suppose at this point anything it's on the table.
Q: Do you think the U.S. and Brazil will now develop some kind of bilateral agreement on surveillance?
A: Well probably not. The reason why it's because this isn't specifically targeted to Brazil; in other words this is a global issue. The U.S. has done this sort of activity against probably all countries to a greater or lesser extent. This is not the first time a revelation like this has occurred....but it will be unlikely in my view that the U.S. would agree to some sort of bilateral protocol because that might affect them in a greater way with some of the other countries. Now having said that, there'll clearly be a discussion and consultation and there may be some informal agreements....
