"Information technology should not be allowed to become a battlefield between countries. A nation's sovereignty should not be based on the undermining of another nation", Dilma Rousseff, President of Brazil pointed out this morning when she participated at the general assembly in the United Nations, adressing the reports of the espionage of the United States against Brazil.

The tension between both countries began three weeks ago, when an investigation made by the "O Globo" network published documents provided by former United States NSA contractor Edward Snowden, that shed light on espionage measures used on Mexico and Brazil, as well as what information they were spying on specifically. Brazil has been the country with the more agressive stance regarding this and immediately took action.

After the espionage allegations were published, Brazil called the United States Ambassador in Brazil to provide an explanation. Later the government announced that they would request a response directly from President Barack Obama during the G20 summit in Russia. Then, last week, Brazil announced that they would cancel Dilma Rousseff's visit to the United States, which was programmed for October and that they would take measures to increase their nation's electronic security when it comes to social media and E-mail servers, in a way that the information would be held on servers where the United States would not be able to access it.

For Brazil, the answers the United States Government has provided have been insufficient. Today Dilma Rousseff also kept her word and reported this to international authorities and she added that the use of the internet should be regulated in a way that it does not depend on the United States, "The full use of the internet requires a responsible regulation that guarantees freedom of speech and the respect for human rights".

In Mexico's case, President Peña Nieto did not attend the assembly meeting because of the crisis the country is going through due to the damage of tropical storms "Ingrid" and "Manuel". As well, leaders and citizens have criticized the Mexican government for not taking any action similar to those taken in Brazil.

Last week Joe Biden, Vice president of the United States, visited Mexico and the subject of this reported espionage was not dealt with. Barack Obama as well avoided the subject during his presentation in the general assembly and focused his topic on the Syria and Iran situation.

Brenda.Colon@sandiegored.com

Daniel.Aguilar@sandiegored.com