The US National Security Agency (NSA) has reportedly targeted several major countries in Latin America under its surveillance programmes.
Citing documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported that the NSA targeted and gathered information from many Latin American countries including Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil.
The newspaper claimed that the NSA carried out surveillance operations in the oil and energy sector in Venezuela and Mexico.
The information was reported to have been collected through an association between US and Brazilian telecom firms.
Reuters reported that Latin American countries are demanding explanations from the US about the new allegations.
The Brazilian government said it will investigate the alleged links between NSA and the local firms and will raise the issue with the US.
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez was quoted by Reuters as saying that: "A shiver ran down my back when I learned that they are spying on all of us."
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Last month, Snowden claimed that the NSA hacked China’s three state-run telecom firms to snoop on SMS data from the Chinese carriers.
Recently, two privacy watchdogs, one in the UK and one in the USA, have filed complaints against their respective governments over surveillance programmes.
