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‘Spying issue will be raised with Kerry’- Brazil
August 9, 2013, 8:45 am

[Getty Images]

The trip is Kerry’s first visit to a Southern American country as a top US diplomat [Getty Images]

Allegations of US surveillance operations in Brazil will be discussed during US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to the country next week, says Brazil’s Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota.

“It is an issue that can not be left out of the bilateral US-Brazil agenda” Patriota told reporters earlier this week.

A statement from the Brazilian Foreign Ministry said Kerry and Patriota would also examine the main issues of the bilateral, regional and global agendas when they meet on August 13.

Relations between the two countries were strained when Brazilian daily O Globo published US spying reports in July. Brazil has said it is not yet satisfied by the American explanations on the issue.

President Rousseff had earlier conveyed deep reservations about the NSA surveillance of emails and telephone records of Brazilian citizens and firms.

“The privacy of citizens and the sovereignty of countries cannot be infringed in the name of security,” President Rousseff said in July.

The trip is Kerry’s first visit to a Southern American country as a top US diplomat and will be used as a preparatory meeting for the upcoming summit between President Dilma Rousseff and her US counterpart Barack Obama in October.

Patriota said Rousseff’s trip “is confirmed, for the time being,” adding that “we are going to keep a specific dialogue with the US to discuss the spying allegations through the appropriate channels.”

Source: Agencies