USA spying on Brazil, other allies in Latin America - Why?

Today's Snowden bombshell is a revelation that the United States has been spying on Latin American  countries, including allies such as Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. A Brazilian paper has run a report, with information allegedly from Edward Snowden, explaining that the U.S. intelligence dragnet includes these countries among others.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The Brazilian-based paper, O Globo, says it has documents from the National Security Agency, provided by Edward Snowden, which reveal the NSA is spying on Latin American countries and is paying particular interest to the oil industry.

Venezuela, vilified for the late Hugo Chavez and its alignment with U.S. enemies such as Iran, has received particular scrutiny.

Mexico has also been a target of foreign surveillance, surprising because the country is already a close American ally. The NSA has shown a keen interest in the nationalized oil industry, which is closes to foreign investment.

According to O Globo, the U.S. intelligence gathering activities were performed with the cooperation of U.S. and Brazilian telecom companies. This suggests that these governments may have also been complicit in the operation, just as it was revealed yesterday that several European countries were cooperating extensively with the U.S. Ironically, countries such as France and Germany, that blasted the U.S. government for spying, were revealed to be significant partners in the American surveillance program.

Brazilian officials have denied government involvement in any U.S. surveillance operation.

U.S. authorities say they are only collecting the same data that other countries collect, for security purposes.

What is becoming clear is that world governments, led by the United States, are spying on their own citizens, as well as one another, in the name of fighting the war on terror. However, in creating such a surveillance net, the terrorists have gained a great victory. Today, our governments now have the means to terrorize us with mass surveillance, intimidation, drones, and the like. Who needs al Qaeda anymore?

Is it happening? Not in the perception of mainstream Americans, but the apparatus of tyranny is already in place. This is what whistle blowers like Snowden are trying to tell us. The NSA, the IRS, and more are already in position to exercise unprecedented power over the American people.

Some, particularly Catholics, may argue that the persecution has already started. The unethical and possibly unconstitutional HHS contraceptive mandate is just one example. The IRS harassment of conservative groups is another.

However, most Americans dismiss much of these red flags as the complaints of right-wing Cassandras, who enjoy little sympathy or credibility. Yet, it is a very short interval down the slippery slope to the rest of America.

Someday we may even look back at the Obama presidency as "the good old days." If you don't think that can happen, then you're not paying attention.

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