Folha gave the US the alibi the US was looking for.
"Everyone spies," reads the headline on UOL, the Folha group's portal; "There are no virgins in this business," the text ironically states; with a report on "espionage" by ABIN (Brazilian Intelligence Agency), Folha de S.Paulo managed to undermine Brazil's effort to lead, alongside Germany, an initiative against indiscriminate wiretapping by the United States; a newspaper that claims to be "at the service of Brazil" worked against it.
247 Brazil's attempt to lead, alongside Germany, a global effort to curb large-scale espionage practiced by the United States has become a source of ridicule among American diplomats since Folha de S.Paulo compared it to cases carried out by the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin) in 2003.
"Despite the difference in scale and setting, it's confirmed that everyone spies on each other," say diplomats from the State Department and senior White House officials, according to a UOL headline. "There are no virgins in this business," they quip.
Recently, President Dilma Rousseff gained international prominence by calling for internet regulation at a UN General Assembly, in clear reference to the abuses perpetrated by the Obama Big Brother system. The United States National Security Agency, the NSA, monitored citizens and governments of countries such as Brazil, Mexico, France, Spain, and Germany. On Brazilian soil, it intercepted conversations in President Dilma Rousseff's office and broke the confidentiality of Petrobras.
In this context, Brazil's largest newspaper published an article last Monday that perfectly suits the US and simultaneously undermines Dilma's efforts. Based on a report from ABIN (Brazilian Intelligence Agency), the newspaper points out that diplomatic representatives from at least three countries were followed and even photographed during their stay in Brazil (Read hereWith a minor incident, he acted spitefully and worked against Brazil.
Comparisons between the two cases are absurd, as Justice Minister José Eduardo Cardozo pointed out: "This is a case of counterintelligence, which bears no resemblance whatsoever to the violations of the privacy of thousands of citizens committed by the United States intelligence services."