The President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff has canceled her October visit to the United States after allegations the U.S intelligence agency, the NSA spied on the Brazilian government. President Obama attempted to salvage Rousseff's visit with a 20 minute phone call on Monday night but he did not succeed. The offices of both presidents agreed the trip was postponed and not canceled, but reports are suggesting the spying allegations have left relations between the U.S and Brazil with a serious rift. A rescheduling of the Brazil to U.S trip should not be expected anytime soon.
Relations between the United States and Brazil have been slowly smoothing out since Rousseff took office in 2011. The presidents had an impromptu meeting while they were both in St. Petersburg for a group meeting in an attempt to further improve the relations between the two countries. Since NSA whistle blower Edward Snowden leaked the confidential documents that showed the NSA was illegally spying on the U.S it has also been suggested that the NSA has been keeping tabs on emails and phone calls made by the Brazilian government.
Rousseff is not a popular figure in her country, her popularity is about to take another dive and it is believed that a "tough stance" against the U.S spying operation would help to restore her popularity. "It's a position that will work in her favor domestically," said political analyst Rafael Cortez to Bloomberg.com. It takes the focus off negative issues, such as a slow economy. On June 27 and 28 Rousseff's popularity fell 30-percent from a 65-percent high in March, Bloomberg reports.
President Rousseff's visit was scheduled to begin on October 23. It would be the first time a Brazilian president visited the U.S since 1995. A statement from President Rousseff's office said the visit could not go on because the Brazilian government had not yet completed its investigation into the NSA spying claims. The statement said, "given the proximity of the scheduled state visit to Washington - and in the absence of a timely investigation of the incident, with corresponding explanations and the commitment to cease the interception activities" it could not go ahead as planned."
The statement from Brazil added that the government hoped the issue would be resolved quickly and the visit could get back on track. Speakers for the White House and President Obama have said to various media sources that the Commander in Chief is looking into the Unites State's surveillance programs. However the process of analyzing these programs could take months. In a statement regarding Rousseff's trip the White House said,
"The president has said that he understands and regrets the concerns [that] disclosures of alleged US intelligence activities have generated in Brazil and made clear that he is committed to working together with President Rousseff and her government in diplomatic channels to move beyond this issue as a source of tension in our bilateral relationship."
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