Leading Brazil congressman says disclosures of US spying will not affect relations

BRASILIA, Brazil – The head of Brazil's joint congressional committee on intelligence says reports disclosures alleging that that the United States has collected data on billions of telephone and email conversations in Latin America's biggest country will not affect Brazil-U.S. relations.

Congressman Nelson Pellegrino tells foreign correspondents in Brasilia that despite Brazil's strong repudiation of the U.S. information gathering activities in Brazil "the good relations we have with the United States will not be interrupted."

Late last week, the O Globo newspaper reported that information released by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden showed Brazil is the top target in Latin America for the NSA's massive intelligence-gathering effort aimed at monitoring communications around the world.

The Brazilian government is investigating the disclosures and Congress has asked U.S. Ambassador Thomas Shannon for explanations.