<nettime> An ID for ID makes the whole world a mess :)

[Patrice Riemens <patrice@xs4all.nl>]

With thanks to Paul Wouters.

--------

Brazil Jails American Airlines Pilot Over Fingerprinting Snub
By LARRY ROHTER

Published: January 15, 2004

IO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 14 ??? An American Airlines pilot arriving in S??o
Paulo, Brazil's largest city, was jailed Wednesday after he protested new
procedures requiring the fingerprinting and photographing of all incoming
United States citizens by making what Federal Police officers described as
an obscene gesture.
	

Eleven other crew members on the same flight from Miami were refused entry
to Brazil and detained after the police said that they had refused to be
fingerprinted and behaved in a "derisive" manner. They were ordered to
return to the United States on the next available flight, which was to
leave S??o Paulo on Wednesday night.

The dispute heightened Brazilian-American tensions that started Jan. 1
when Brazil demanded that arriving American citizens ??? and American
citizens alone ??? be photographed and fingerprinted. The policy was in
retaliation for increased security measures in the United States that
require citizens of all but 27 countries, mostly European, to undergo
nearly identical procedures.

At a conference of Western Hemisphere heads of government on Monday,
Brazil's president, Luiz In??cio Lula da Silva, personally asked President
Bush that Brazilians be exempted from the requirements. He followed that
on Tuesday with public criticism of the United States procedures, saying
to reporters that "if the problem is to fight terrorism, this measure
makes no sense" because "we have no culture of terrorism" in Brazil.

The police said that the American Airlines pilot, Dale Hersh, 52, had been
charged with "disrespect for authority," an offense that carries a jail
term of six months to one year. It was unclear whether he would be allowed
to leave the country before facing trial, and the United States Consulate
in S??o Paulo issued a statement saying that American officials were
"working with both the Federal Police and American Airlines to resolve the
matter."

American Airlines is one of the biggest carriers from the United States to
Brazil and the rest of Latin America, with flights from New York City,
Miami and Dallas to Rio de Janeiro, S??o Paulo and Belo Horizonte. A
spokeswoman in Miami, Martha Pantin, said in a telephone interview that
the company "regrets any misunderstanding" with the Brazilian authorities
and plans to continue its normal flight schedule.

"American Airlines and its employees pride themselves on always being
professional and courteous with everyone with whom they come in contact,"
she said. "The company apologizes to the Brazilian government, the airport
authorities, the police or anyone else who may have perceived anything
they believe to be disrespectful."

Warsaw's Mayor to Cancel Visit

WARSAW, Jan. 13 (Reuters) ??? The mayor of Warsaw said Tuesday that he
would cancel a visit to the United States to protest its policy of
fingerprinting visitors as part of new antiterror measures.

The mayor, Lech Kaczynski, who leads a major right-wing party, was
supposed to pay a visit in April to Chicago and New York, both home to
large Polish communities. "I will go only when there will be no need for
taking pictures and fingerprinting," Mr. Kaczynski told reporters.

Poland had hoped that as a reward for its help in the war in Iraq, the
United States would relax entry visa rules for its citizens. Poland has
sent 2,500 troops to Iraq and is one of America's staunchest allies in
Europe.

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