The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has spied on Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and dozens of key officials in her administration, new WikiLeaks documents reveal.
The top secret documents, released on Saturday, revealed the names of more than 29 members of Rousseff's administration, including her secretary and chief of staff, who were spied on by NSA at the beginning of her first term in office.
"The publication proves that not only President Dilma Rousseff was targeted but also her assistant, her secretary, her chief of staff, her Palace office and even the phone in her Presidential jet," WikiLeaks said in a prèss release.
The global whistleblower website further said the U.S. spy agency waged an "economic espionage campaign" by spying on those responsible for managing Brazil's economy, including the head of its Central Bank.
The Brazilian president said during her recent U.S. visit that the spying row was a thing of the past, according to BBC News. However, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said NSA snooping has not stopped.
"Our publication today shows the US has a long way to go to prove its dragnet surveillance on 'friendly' governments is over," Assange said in a statement.
"If President Rousseff wants to see more US investment in Brazil on the back of her recent trip as she claims, how can she assure Brazilian companies that their US counterparts will not have an advantage provided by this surveillance, until she can really guarantee the spying has stopped - not just on her, but on all Brazilian issues," he further added.
Brazilian officials, however, said there was nothing new in the WikiLeaks revelations. "The revelations of today are very similar to the ones that were released earlier," Brazil's minister of public affairs told CNN.
WikiLeaks' newest revelations comes on the heels of the recent publications that the NSA spied on three French presidents and top German officials.
