Brazil Won't Cut a Deal with Snowden

By Fusion Staff | December 17, 2013 | 7:06pm

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The government of Brazil isn’t interested in granting asylum to Edward Snowden in exchange for high-level NSA secrets, a Brazilian newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The Folha de Sao Paulo, Brazil’s leading newspaper, quoted an anonymous presidential adviser who said that Brazil is not interested in interfering in the affairs of other countries, such as the U.S, and would likely reject any asylum request from Snowden.

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Snowden has not officially applied for asylum in Brazil. But he did write an open letter to the Brazilian government that was published in several media outlets on Tuesday morning. In the letter, Snowden offered to help Brazil investigate crimes committed against its citizens by the NSA in exchange for asylum.

“Today, if you carry a cell phone in Sao Paolo, the NSA can and does keep track of your location: they do this 5 billion times a day to people around the world,” Snowden wrote. “Many Brazilian senators agree, and have asked for my assistance with their investigations of suspected crimes against Brazilian citizens.”

“I have expressed my willingness to assist wherever appropriate and lawful, but unfortunately the United States government has worked very hard to limit my ability to do so…Until a country grants permanent political asylum, the US government will continue to interfere with my ability to speak.”

According to Folha, the Brazilian government does not need to provide an official response to Snowden’s letter, since the former NSA contractor has not made a formal request for asylum.

However, it’s looking like if he did make such a request, he would be rejected.

Manuel Rueda is a correspondent for Fusion, covering Mexico and South America. He travels from donkey festivals, to salsa clubs to steamy places with cartel activity.