Brazilian intelligence on Monday admitted to spying on foreign officials, including top diplomats from the United States, Russia and Iran.
In a statement issued by Brazil’s Institutional Security Cabinet on Monday, officials admitted to running counterintelligence operations against those countries for over a decade, the Hill reported.
“The [intelligence] operations … obeyed the Brazilian legislation for the protection of national interests,” according to the cabinet statement, the New York Times first reported. “ABIN develops intelligence activities for the defense of the democratic rule of law, society and national sovereignty, in strict observance of constitutional principles and rights and individual guarantees.”
The news comes soon after Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff postponed her trip to Washington amid revelations that the National Security Agency had spied on her and Brazilian oil giant Petrobras.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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