Brazil And Mexico Presidents 'Spied On By US'

The Brazilian government has labelled a US spy programme an "unacceptable invasion of sovereignty" after reports it targeted the nation's president.

In a sign that anger is continuing to grow, the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper reported that President Dilma Rousseff is considering cancelling a trip to the US in October.

The Brazilian Foreign Ministry summoned US Ambassador Thomas Shannon and demanded a written explanation from the White House over the espionage allegations.

On Sunday night, a Globo TV report cited 2012 documents from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden that indicated the US intercepted President Rousseff's emails and telephone calls, along with those of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Mexico's government said it had expressed its concerns to the US ambassador and directly to the US administration.

Brazil Foreign Minister Luiz Alberto Figueiredo said: "We're going to talk with our partners, including developed and developing nations, to evaluate how they protect themselves and to see what joint measures could be taken in the face of this grave situation."

He added that "there has to be international regulations that prohibit citizens and governments alike from being exposed to interceptions, violations of privacy and cyber attacks".

Justice Minister Eduardo Cardozo said it "represents an unacceptable violation of Brazilian sovereignty".

He added: "This type of practice is incompatible with the confidence necessary for a strategic partnership between two nations."

A probe into revelations that Brazil was a top target for National Security Agency (NSA) spying in the region is expected to start next week.

During the Globo TV programmer, US journalist Glenn Greenwald - who lives in Rio de Janeiro and first broke the story about the NSA programme - said a document dated June 2012 showed that Mr Pena Nieto's emails were being read.

The document was dated a month before he was even elected.

Mr Greenwald also said the leaked documents showed Brazil was the largest target in Latin America for NSA surveillance programmes.

Dean Chavez, a spokesman for the US Embassy in Brasilia, said: "We value our relationship with Brazil, understand that they have valid concerns about these disclosures and we will continue to engage with the Brazilian government in an effort to address those concerns."