Brazilian lawmakers plan Russia visit to meet Snowden on NSA spying

Brazilian legislators plan to visit Russia in a bid to meet with American whistleblower and ex-employee of the National Security Agency (NSA) Edward Snowden over NSA’s massive spying efforts against Brazil.

Brazilian lower parliamentary House Committees on Foreign Relations and Defense announced in a statement on Wednesday that the lawmakers intend to dispatch a legislative delegation to Moscow in an effort to hold talks with Snowden on NSA’s surveillance of Brazilian targets, RIA Novosti reported Thursday, citing Latin American press reports.

It is not, however, clear yet when the Brazilian parliamentary delegation would make the trip and whether the Kremlin, which has offered Snowden a temporary political asylum, would allow such a meeting.

Meanwhile, Moscow has not reacted to the news report.

US declared the former contract employee of its CIA and NSA spy agencies as a fugitive for leaking classified information regarding massive American surveillance of electronic communications across the US and many parts of the globe.

According to recent reports, citing information leaked by Snowden to Brazil-based journalist Glenn Greenwald, Brazil and Mexico were top Latin American targets of NSA spying operations across the world.

The report further cites Brazilian MP Ivan Valente as saying that authorities in Brasilia must speak with the American whistleblower because the recent press revelations on NSA spying operations on the country had shown “the total vulnerability” of communications for Brazilian government and citizens.

Recent reports by Brasilia-based Globo TV cited Snowden-leaked documents to state that Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and the state oil company Petrobras were among the NSA’s top targets of electronic surveillance.

The new revelations of NSA spying have further brought into question a planned October visit to Washington by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

The report prompted Brasilia to demand an explanation from the US, indicating that the president’s decision on whether to make the trip to Washington will be based on the US response.

Brazilian government’s security spokesman Eduardo Sanchez has reportedly confirmed that the nation’s foreign ministry had contacted Washington, demanding an “in-depth investigation into the matter.”

The Obama administration’s National Security Adviser Susan Rice told Brazilian Foreign Minister Luiz Alberto Figueiredo on Wednesday that “the United States is committed to working with Brazil to address its concerns,” according to a White House statement.