Brazilian Lawmakers Seek Russia Visit to Meet with Snowden

BRASÍLIA – Lawmakers in Brazil are seeking a meeting with fugitive ex-US intelligence consultant Edward Snowden, who leaked documents showing the United States allegedly cyber-spied on Brazil, officials said Monday.

Foreign relations and defense committee members will meet Tuesday with Russia’s Ambassador in Brasilia Sergey Pogossovith Akopov on how a congressional panel might be allowed to meet with Snowden, whom Russia has granted asylum.

“It is our duty to determine the true dimensions of (US spying) programs,” said committee chairman Nelson Pellegrino.

Brazilian broadcaster TV Globo has reported the NSA eavesdropped on Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, some of her aides and the state oil giant Petrobras.

They based their reports on information from Glenn Greenwald, a blogger and columnist for the Guardian newspaper, who got secret files from Snowden.

When the first allegations emerged at the beginning of the month, Brazil’s government summoned the US ambassador over the affair.

Rousseff has also halted preparations for a visit to the United States, scheduled for October 23, pending an explanation from Washington over the allegations.

The alleged US espionage targeting Petrobras however will not delay an oil field auction scheduled for next month, a Brazilian government official was quoted as saying this week.

The discovery of the enormous so-called Libra field marked the largest oil discovery in Brazilian history.

It is believed to hold between eight and 12 billion barrels of recoverable oil, and covers an area of 1,500 square kilometers (580 square miles) in ultra deep oil fields detected in 2007.

Snowden’s disclosures are continuing to trickle out in the British Guardian newspaper and other publications.

The United States wants Russia to hand over Snowden so he can be investigated over the leaks.