My Two Cents

Irate Latin American nations are demanding explanations from the United States about new allegations that it spied on both allies and foes in the region with secret surveillance programs.

A leading Brazilian newspaper reported on Tuesday that the U.S. National Security Agency targeted most Latin American countries with spying programs that monitored Internet traffic, especially in Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and Mexico.

[...]

Brazil's government said it set up a task force of its defense, communications, justice and foreign affairs ministries to investigate the alleged espionage and establish whether the privacy of Brazilian citizens had been violated.

The Brazilian Senate's foreign relations committee has asked U.S. ambassador Thomas Shannon to testify on the allegations. It is unclear whether Shannon, who is not obliged to testify, will do so.

[...]

"A shiver ran down my back when I learned that they are spying on all of us," Argentine President Cristina Fernandez said in a speech on Tuesday.

She called on the Mercosur bloc of South American nations, due to meet on Friday, to issue a strong statement and demand explanations from Washington. "More than revelations, these are confirmations of what we thought was happening," she said.

  Reuters

With all due respect to Brazil and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, all countries with any intelligence apparatus or even any connection to the rest of the world already know that the US has been spying on them. This kind of thing is only a secret from the American public. And possibly the citizens of some other countries whose governments also spy on THEM.

Some newspapers in América Latina will report heavily and with outrage, because THEY are not just a propaganda arm of the government, and the general population of South Americans is very savvy politically. Unlike most citizens of the US, they participate at least to the extent that they make themselves aware of the politics of their country, and also of the country most likely to interfere in their affairs (us, of course). In turn, when something like the existence of PRISM and Boundless Informant becomes news, the people of those countries do become outraged, and therefore, their leaders HAVE to make noises about being offended and holding the US responsible – at least responsible for an explanation.

What remains to be seen is whether the explanation will placate the people of those countries. Eventually, that and their leaders’ pronouncements of indignation and sovereignty, will. But, in the end, there will be no larger consequence for the US than a carefully worded bullshit explanation, or at most, a little more tweaking of our laws, because too many of our people are already more interested in taking down the few who make an attempt to inform them of their government's corruption and illegality.  I'd blame the condition of our educational system, but the citizens of the poorest of the South American countries who have no formal education at all still know what's going on in their governments.

Hugo Chávez brought Venezuela to the point of being able to stand up to the US, but its strength lies in its oil fields.  Without large supplies of oil, the other countries are too weak, with the exception perhaps of Brazil, which does produce oil.  But Brazil's president was not one of those who met in support of Evo Morales when the US put Europe up to hijacking his plane.  They sent an international adviser. 

This is our world.  We let it get away from us some time ago.