US pilot freed after paying a $12,775 fine ( 2004-01-16 09:05) (Agencies)
Brazilian police at Sao Paulo's airport were
deluged with calls of congratulations on Thursday for arresting an American
Airlines pilot who made an obscene gesture while being photographed by
immigration officials as part of a policy that has soured U.S.-Brazilian
relations.
The pilot, Dale Robin Hersh, 52, who was arrested for raising his middle
figure in a photograph that was splashed across Brazilian newspapers, was fined
nearly $13,000 before being allowed to leave the country, officials said.
American Airlines pilot Dale Robun Hirsch
(L) raises his middle finger while he was being photographed by Brazilian
immigration officers upon his arrival at Sao Paulo international Airport
January 14, 2003. [Reuters]
The American
pilot's defiant gesture brought renewed focus to a new Brazilian policy of
fingerprinting and photographing all U.S. visitors in retaliation for a similar
measure introduced by the United States for many foreigners.
Many Brazilians are annoyed by what they perceive as Washington's arrogance
when dealing with Latin America and welcomed Hersh's arrest as well as the
knowledge that the new airport controls have irked the United States.
A Reuters photographer at Sao Paulo airport said police had received almost
nonstop phone calls of congratulations for arresting Hersh and forcing him to
surrender his passport.
Veronique Genevieve Claude, an official at the court where Hersh's case was
heard, said the pilot had paid a $12,775 fine and was free to leave the country.
U.S. passport holders have been subjected to long lines at Brazilian ports of
entry since the new controls were implemented, prompting Secretary of State
Colin Powell to complain that Americans were being discriminated against.
At a regional summit in Mexico this week, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio
Lula da Silva appealed to President Bush to suspend visa requirements so
the two countries could drop the fingerprint checks.
In a bid to ease the tension for American travelers ahead of its famous
Carnival in February, Rio de Janeiro's tourism body laid on Samba dancers for
arriving U.S. tourists at the airport and handed them roses and T-shirts bearing
the message "Rio loves you."
Airports in Rio and Sao Paulo also began using an electronic fingerprinting
and photographing system to speed up the processing of U.S. citizens, which
began on Jan. 1.
"The process was quick and easy," said actor Kevin Boguel on clearing
immigration at Rio's Tom Jobim airport. "I only feel a bit embarrassed because
we North Americans are getting presents and the other tourists are not."
American housewife Marilyn Ross also had no complaints after going through
the immigration procedure at Rio airport. "I think it's normal," she said. "If
the United States wants to fingerprint then Brazil also has the right to do so."
Brazilian government lawyers have challenged a ruling by a 34-year-old
regional judge that introduced the new immigration controls on the grounds that
they want to restore the government's "exclusive competence" over foreign
policy.
But officials said the legal challenge, which aims to prevent judges across
the country from dictating foreign policy, would have no impact on the controls
on U.S visitors.
