Rousseff consults cabinet on US spy claims

RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Monday called an emergency meeting with several cabinet members to discuss new revelations about US intelligence agencies spying on personal emails between the president and several of her ministers.

The US ambassador to Brasilia, Thomas Shannon, was called in the same day to explain the latest spying claims, marking the second time he has been summoned to explain the blanket US spying.

The new revelations, broadcast Sunday evening on a Brazilian TV show named Fantastico, disclosed that the US National Security Agency (NSA) spied on Rousseff's communications with high government officials.

Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo called the surveillance "unacceptable".

Presidency Secretary General Gilberto Carvalho said the revelations had thrown the government into a state of emergency.

Human Rights Minister Maria do Rosario said via Twitter that the spying represented a "maximum level of disrespect" for Brazil's sovereignty and a violation of human rights.

The new allegations, based on documents leaked by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden to The Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald, follow earlier revelations of US spying that angered Brazil and other Latin American nations.

The Brazilian government also admitted that sensitive information, such as data related to Brazil's oil reserves, may have been accessed.