Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff –

As many other Latin Americans, I fought against authoritarianism and censorship, and I cannot but defend, in an uncompromising fashion, the right to privacy of individuals and the sovereignty of my country. In the absence of the right to privacy, there can be no true freedom of expression and opinion, and therefore no effective democracy. In the absence of the respect for sovereignty, there is no basis for the relationship among Nations.

We face, Mr. President, a situation of grave violation of human rights and of civil liberties; of
invasion and capture of confidential information concerning corporate activities, and especially
of disrespect to national sovereignty.

We expressed to the Government of the United States our disapproval, and demanded
explanations, apologies and guarantees that such procedures will never be repeated

Brazil’s President, Dilma Rousseff, went before the United Nations this morning poignantly addressing the reckless behavior of the NSA surveillance dragnet of her country, its businesses/corporations and citizens, not to mention her private email account. Below, you can watch her entire speech which is followed by the transcript of her speech.

Brazil: Statement by H.E. Dilma Rousseff Before the United Nations on September 24, 2013