US spying on Brazil halts talks on warplane purchase [View all]
US spying on Brazil halts talks on warplane purchase
AFP – Tue, Sep 10, 2013 6:41 PM AEST
Alleged US spying on the communications of Brazil's president have brought negotiations on buying US warplanes to a halt, a Brazilian government source said Tuesday.
The talks have been going on for years, and got a nudge with a visit from Vice President Joe Biden in May.
"The negotiations were going very well, and then they stopped" with the recent press reports that the National Security Agency had spied on the online and other communications of President Dilma Rousseff. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto was also alleged to have been targeted by the NSA.
The US government was eager to close the aircraft deal in time for a planned October visit to Washington by Rousseff, the source said.
Brazil has been in talks to buy 36 fighter jets for years, at a cost of $5 billion.
More:
http://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/us-spying-brazil-halts-talks-084101152.html
= new reply since forum marked as read