Snowden believes his "mission has been accomplished."
“Because, remember, I didn’t want to change society. I wanted to give society the opportunity to determine whether it should change,” said the former consultant regarding revelations of abuses committed by the services of the United States National Security Agency (NSA).
From Agência Brasil*
Washington – Edward Snowden, a former consultant who worked for the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), said he considers the debate generated after the revelation of thousands of secret U.S. espionage documents to be "mission accomplished."
"For me, in terms of personal satisfaction, the mission was accomplished. I've already won," Snowden said in an interview published in the American newspaper, the Washington Post, and given in Moscow, where he is in asylum.
Snowden, 30, added that as soon as journalists were able to start working, all of their work was validated.
"Because, remember, I didn't want to change society. I wanted to give society the opportunity to determine whether it should change."
In the interview, the first given in person by the analyst since arriving in Russia in June, Snowden insisted that his goal "was for public opinion to be able to give its opinion on how the country should be governed."
The revelations of mass surveillance, provided by a former NSA technician to the Washington Post (USA) and The Guardian (Great Britain), provoked a diplomatic conflict, making public that US intelligence services spied on communications in Europe, including those of political leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.
The case caused embarrassment to Washington, generating distrust among many allies towards Americans, and increased questioning about the balance between individual privacy and the fight against terrorism in American society.
*With information from the Lusa news agency.