U.S. used espionage data on the Summit of the Americas in 2009

According to a secret document of the National Security Agency (NSA) released last Sunday by the Brazilian magazine Epoca, the United States used information obtained through its spy network to define decisions in the Summit of the Americas in 2009 at Trinidad and Tobago.

The document with the letterhead of “secret”, is signed by the then Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere of the United States, Thomas Shannon, current country’s ambassador in Brasilia, and is addressed to the General Director of the NSA, General Keith Alexander.

On May 29, 2009 Shannon thanked Alexander for the secret reports anticipating the positions that Latin-American presidents would present at the meeting. “The more than one hundred reports received from the NSA gave us a deep understanding of the plans and intentions of other countries participating in the summit,” Shannon wrote.

“They allowed our diplomats to be well prepared for advising the President (Barack) Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on how to deal with controversial issues such as Cuba, and interact with difficult partners, such as Venezuelan President (Hugo) Chavez,” says the letter added on the magazine that Epoca ensures to have acquired be exclusive means, without citing sources.

Barack Obama and Hugo Chávez at the Summit of 2009.