Demonstrators outside the regional office of the presidency in Sao Paulo, Brazil, show their discontent for Brazil’s rejection of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden’s asylum application, July 18, 2013 (AP / Andre Penner)
New controversy has erupted over the latest NSA leaks, which reveal that the Canadian government admitted to U.S. spy agencies that it had spied a communications network of Brazil’s mines and energy ministry. Brazil has summoned the Canadian ambassador to demand a response.
The revelations follow weeks of outrage from the Brazilian government over revelations that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has focused heavily on monitoring Brazilian telecommunications. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has since attacked the U.S. spy program from the floor of the U.N. General Assembly and canceled a planned visit to Washington.
The Canadian leak is particularly significant given the major role played by Canadian companies in the Latin American mining industry. Canadian mining companies have regularly been implicated in human rights abuses across the hemisphere, backed by the full diplomatic power of the Canadian state (take a look at this search for just a sampling of the horrible projects Canadian mining companies are currently engaged in). Sixty percent of the world’s publicly traded mining companies are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, accounting for more than 3200 mining projects in more than 100 countries. In addition, the Toronto and Vancouver financial markets are the world’s largest source of equity capital for mining companies.
And of course, the tar sands have brought the Canadian government’s investment in the global energy industry into sharp focus, leading one commentator to say that, “perhaps more than at any other time in its history, the Canadian state has invested its future in a single massive industrial project [the tar sands].” In addition, Canada is heavily invested in fracking and coal mining, with an eye toward energy exports.
See Also:
Why Target the Canadian Mining Industry?
Tar Sands Pipelines as Bottle-necks against the Consolidation of Power in Canada
