Spying on Petrobras economically motivated: Brazilian president

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 9-- Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff issued an official statement Monday specially on the latest news that U.S. Security Agency (NSA) spied on Brazil's state-controlled oil and gas giant Petrobras, demanding again explanations from the U.S. government.

Rousseff said in the statement that if the latest news are indeed proven, they will confirm that the U.S. motivation has nothing to do with self-protection, but everything to do with economic and strategic interests.

"Petrobras does not represent a threat to the security of any country. It represents, however, one of the world's largest oil assets and a patrimony of the Brazilian people," said Rousseff.

She said her administration has already demanded explanations from the U.S. government on the violations and also demanded concrete actions to end what she claimed as "espionage offensive to human rights, Brazil's sovereignty and economic interests."

The president said the espionage was incompatible with democratic coexistence between friendly countries, promising to take action to protect Brazil, its government and companies.

The news on U.S. spying on Petrobras, the latest development on the scandal of the U.S.'s global surveillance program, was aired Sunday night on TV news show "Fantastico", the same program that a week earlier revealed the U.S. NSA spied on the private communications of Brazilian president and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Before the news on Petrobras surfaced, Rousseff met with U.S. President Barack Obama last week to demand full explanations on the espionage, which Obama promised to deliver by Wednesday.

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