US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden offered to help Brazil investigate US spying, but said in a letter that he needs permanent political asylum to do so.

US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden offered to help Brazil investigate US spying, but said in a letter that he needs permanent political asylum to do so.

Snowden, by downloading a vast trove of classified documents while working as an intelligence contractor for the NSA, has revealed a vast NSA program that culls information from telephone calls and emails around the world, including in Brazil.

In the letter, he writes that US officials justify the spying actions by saying they aim "to keep you safe."

But, he says, "these programs were never about terrorism: they're about economic spying, social control, and diplomatic manipulation. They're about power."

"Now, the whole world is listening back, and speaking out, too," he said.
"The culture of indiscriminate worldwide surveillance, exposed to public debates and real investigations on every continent, is collapsing."

Snowden does not request asylum from Brazil in the letter, but notes Brazilian senators "have asked for my assistance with their investigations of suspected crimes against Brazilian citizens."

Snowden says he is willing to help "wherever appropriate and lawful" but adds that "unfortunately the United States government has worked very hard to limit my ability to do so."

"Until a country grants permanent political asylum, the US government will continue to interfere with my ability to speak," he says.

The move was widely interpreted as a request for asylum in Brazil, including by the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper that published the letter in both English and Portuguese.