Brazil - Brazzil Mag - Brazil's Intelligence Leadership Suspended After Spying on Chief Justice

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil suspended on Monday, September 1st, the entire leadership of the country's intelligence agency after it was accused of spying on the Supreme Court chief and members of Congress.

The presidential office said in a statement that Lula had decided to suspend the top officials until an investigation into the allegations was complete. The alleged spying was described as "abominable".

Opposition leaders had earlier demanded an inquiry into a magazine report about the spying, the latest scandal to hit Lula's government.

Veja, the country's leading news magazine, reported on the weekend that the Brazilian Intelligence Agency, or Abin, spied on Supreme Court President Gilmar Mendes and tapped his telephones. It published what it said was a transcript of a private telephone conversation Mendes had with a member of Congress.

An Abin agent who provided the transcript said such illegal phone tapping of authorities was common and also included the head of the Senate and two cabinet members, Veja reported.

Lula held urgent talks for most of Monday with Mendes, the Senate speaker and several Congress members who expressed their concern and demanded those responsible to be punished.

"Somebody has to be sacked. If the justice minister is at fault, let it be him then," said Demóstenes Torres, of the opposition DEM party

The Brazilian president was surprised and outraged at the possibility of the Supreme Court chief being secretly recorded his spokesman Marcelo Baumbach told reporters earlier. Abin said it was investigating the accusations but had confidence in its staff.

Other government officials joined the opposition in condemning the alleged spying as an attack on democracy and a throwback to the days of Brazil's military dictatorship when intelligence services uncovered dissidents, some of whom were tortured or killed.

Critics say Abin, which reports to Lula's institutional security adviser, lacks transparency and external controls.

Most of the legislators suspected of being spied on are in opposition parties, and Mendes is presiding over a high-profile case involving a prominent banker, politicians and businessmen.

well if you are
written by forrest allen brown, September 03, 2008

not commiting a crime you should have nothing to hide.

looks to me as someone was getting to close or
wanted to much of a bribe

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Corruption in Brasilian politics
written by Mark, September 03, 2008

I think "forrest" is right-on ... I lived in Brazil for a year, and I found corruption and bribery to be incredibly insidious and is embarassingly accepted by Brazilians as a way of life ... in Brazil, "democracy" is only a word - it does not describe the reality of their government ... Brazilians have yet to empower themselves and realize that THEY are the government and that the corrupt politicians are supposed to be serving THEM and NOT simply serving to build a gigantic bank account of bribes and kickbacks before retiring to Paris! ... if the phones of ALL of the Brazilian politicians were tapped, THEN they just might be a little bit less inclined to fully and joyously embrace corruption and accept every bribe that comes their way (jeitinhos, jeitos e JEITAOS!) ... the Brazilian people are wonderful, but their politicians are corrupt beyond imagination ... ANYONE INVESTING IN BRAZIL'S RAPIDLY GROWING ECONOMY MIGHT WANT TO SEND THEIR OWN VERY, VERY WELL-TRUSTED ACCOUNTANTS AND FINANCIAL EXPERTS DOWN TO BRAZIL TO CHECK THE TRUE FINANCIAL FACTS BEFORE INVESTING ... DON'T TRUST ACCOUNTANTS AND FINANCIAL EXPERTS FROM DOWN THERE --- THEY WILL CERTAINLY HAVE BEEN (OR WILL BE) BOUGHT-AND-PAID-FOR BY THOSE INTERESTS THAT SEEK TO SEPARATE YOU FROM YOUR MONEY ... most of us in the U.S. cannot possibly imagine the depth and breadth of corruption in Brazil - it resides in the pockets and Swiss bank accounts of ALL Brazilian politicians, including Lula and his minions, and in the pockets and Swiss bank accounts of the judges sitting on their version of the Supreme Court ... an example? -- The rancher who hired and paid the assassin of Dorothy Stang, a retired American nun and rainforest conservation activist, is walking free and reaping the financial benefits of his brutalizing of the land, of his field workers, and of anyone who gets in the way of his clear-cutting more rainforest for his precious cattle ... the wealthy in Brazil literally get away with murder - why should wealthy, bullying ranchers be any different?

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BRAZIL SHOULD CHANGE ITS NAME to
written by forrest allen brown, September 04, 2008

D-NILE

THAT way people would know in advance what they were getting into .

be a good name for the river , that way they could denie all that goes on with the

okay by the government of D-nile

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