First came a report on September 1st that the United States' National Securiy Agency (nsa) had been monitoring the phone calls and e-mails of Brazil's president, Dilma Rousseff, and other senior officials. Then came evidence that the nsa appeared to be spying on Petrobras, Brazil's national oil company. An angry Ms Rousseff demanded explanations, an apology and a guarantee that these "illegal practices" would cease, as a condition for going ahead with a long-planned state visit to Washington next month. Although Barack Obama said he understood the concerns raised by Brazil, more explicit contrition was apparently not forthcoming in a 20-minute phone call on September 16th. The two leaders announced the "postponement" of the visit.
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