U.S. invites Brazil's Rousseff for official visit

The U.S. government has invited Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff for an official visit to Washington D.C., in a move to repair strained relations following a U.S. espionage scandal, local media reported Wednesday.

The formal invitation was made by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who visited Brazil last year during the FIFA World Cup, reports said.

In 2013, information leaked by former U.S. intelligence employee Edward Snowden showed that the United States had been eavesdropping on phones of many foreign leaders including Rousseff and that the U.S. also spied on Brazil's state-controlled oil giant Petrobras.

Brazil then demanded an apology from the U.S. side but did not get one. In response, Rousseff canceled a previously-scheduled state visit to Washington and ties between the two countries have been in freeze since then.

The invitation indicates a willingness by the United States to make peace, but it is unknown whether Rousseff will accept it, local media said.

If Rousseff accepts the invitation, she has two options: a full state visit in 2016 or a high-level work meeting this year. No Brazilian presidents have made a state visit to the U.S. in 20 years.

Rousseff will meet her U.S. counterpart Barack Obama at the Summit of the Americas, which will take place in Panama on April 10-11. She is expected to give Obama her answer on this occasion, the reports said. Endi