Founder of whistleblower website WikiLeaks Julian Assange says the US National Security Agency intercepts almost all communications in the South American continent.

“Ninety-eight percent of Latin American communications are intercepted by the NSA while passing through the United States to the world,” Assange told the Chilean media on Tuesday.

He highlighted the role of Google and Facebook in the agency’s data collection program.

“They are physically in the United States and therefore under their legal jurisdiction, with punitive laws used to force them to hand over the information they are collecting,” Assange said.

Over the weekend, WikiLeaks disclosed documents that indicate the NSA spied on several key Brazilian government officials, including President Dilma Rousseff, her secretary and her chief of staff.