‘Diplomatic embarrassment’: espionage is common, but shakes relationship with Paraguay

However, he stresses that this must be done so as not to shake diplomatic relations. The practice is not declared. According to Vieira, these investigations are carried out within the limits of the law of each country. “Another ingenuity, for me, is to think that a secret service – and Brazil has a good – has no ability to engage in cyber espionage mechanisms,” he explains.

Brazil and Paraguay maintain a good diplomatic relationship. The professor of international law Manuel Furriela points out that, historically, Brazil has always chosen to maintain good diplomatic relations, even when the world was divided between capitalism and socialism. However, this attitude can shake the relationship between governments. “In addition to being part of Mercosur, we built with Paraguay the largest hydroelectric plant in the world, Itaipu. We carried out many projects together, so this action involving a hacker is so serious,” he says.

We are facing a ‘diplomatic embarrassment’. For Vieira, the situation becomes even more delicate due to the information that the Brazilian government allegedly tried to obtain. “It causes a diplomatic embarrassment. It is undeniable that Paraguay is a friendly country, and the fact that Brazil has sought information to increase its bargaining power makes everything more complicated,” he explains.

Paraguay always had caveats about the Itaipu agreement. Brazil has built the dam alone, but divides energy with Paraguay – and negotiation can only be done bilaterally. Tariffs have been the subject of commercial dispute for years.

US espionage in Brazil caused discomfort in the Dilma government. According to Furriela, it was discovered that the government Obama spied on Brazil. “This shook his relationship with our president. Issues involving hackers can be even more serious, as they mean that the search was for access to sensitive data and that there may have been information manipulation – algo that does not happen in traditional espionage,” he says.

There is no risk of energy crisis. Even with the possible shaking in the trust between the two countries, Furriela does not believe that there may be an energy crisis. “Brazil can use half of the production of the plant, and Paraguay, the other half. In addition, there are no contractual alternatives for our neighbor beyond the sale of energy to us. They make a lot of money from this transaction,” he concludes.