Latin American Parliament condemns alleged U.S. espionage against Venezuela

The Latin American Parliament (Parlatino) condemned on Friday the acts of espionage allegedly perpetrated by the U.S. government over a decade against the Venezuelan national oil company, PDVSA.

Parlatino President Angel Rodriguez told the press that all the deputies of Venezuela's Great Patriotic Pole coalition of social movements condemned such acts revealed by Edward Snowden, a former operative of U.S. National Security Agency (NSA).

"Nobody will believe any American spokesman who says the espionage against PDVSA was not for dark reasons, such as seeking commercial secrets," said the Venezuelan parliamentarian.

Venezuela's TV channel TeleSUR has recently reported that the NSA allegedly spied on the PDVSA and many of its staff up until 2010.

According to information provided by Snowden, the United States made illegal searches against over 10,000 PDVSA employees, including the PDVSA's former president and Venezuela's current ambassador to the UN, Rafael Ramirez.

Rodriguez said the United States targeted Venezuela's oil industry as "it accounts for 95 percent of all our revenue from abroad."

On Nov. 19, Alejandro Fleming, vice minister of foreign affairs for North America, delivered a letter of protest to Charge d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas Lee McClenny, expressing the Venezuelan government's vehement protest at these allegations.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called the situation a "violation of international law" and ordered a complete revision of the diplomatic ties with the United States. Endi