Daniel W. Drezner

Good news and bad news on Brazilian fingerprinting

The bad news : Some Americans aren’t reacting too well to the Brazilian plan of photographing and fingerprinting then. According to the Associated Press: aapilot.jpg An American Airlines pilot was fined nearly $17,000 [That’s in Australian dollars — in USD, it’s $13,000 — hat tip to David M. Rosenberg for the correction!–DD] on accusations he ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School at Tufts University and the author of The Ideas Industry.
590595_882255010_aapilot2.jpg
590595_882255010_aapilot2.jpg

The bad news
: Some Americans aren't reacting too well to the Brazilian plan of photographing and fingerprinting then. According to the Associated Press:


The bad news
: Some Americans aren’t reacting too well to the Brazilian plan of photographing and fingerprinting then. According to the Associated Press:

aapilot.jpg

aapilot.jpg

An American Airlines pilot was fined nearly $17,000 [That’s in Australian dollars — in USD, it’s $13,000 — hat tip to David M. Rosenberg for the correction!–DD] on accusations he made an obscene gesture when being photographed at the airport as part of entry requirements for US citizens, officials said. Brazil imposed the new rules that Americans be fingerprinted and photographed at entry points in response the similar rules in the United States for citizens of Brazil and other countries whose citizens need visas to enter. The pilot, Dale Robin Hersh, lifted his middle finger while undergoing the new security process at Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport, said federal prosecutor Matheus Baraldi Magnani. Police accused the pilot of showing contempt to authorities, a crime in Brazil, and escorted him to a nearby federal courthouse for possible formal charges.

Thanks to Mike Derham for the photo link. The good news — The Brazilians are ingenious at soothing these potentially ugly Americans:

samba.jpg

samba.jpg

The AP photo caption reads:

Warm welcome: Samba dancers greet a tourist and his son as they arrive at the Rio de Janeiro Galeao airport yesterday. The samba reception is part of a city campaign against a federal judge ruling that all US citizens be fingerprinted and photographed at the country’s entry points.

More seriously, the Volokh Conspiracy has been blogging this story more seriously. Less seriously — readers, given the myriad kinds of amusements available in the world, which other countries should follow the Brazilian template?

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School at Tufts University and the author of The Ideas Industry. Twitter: @dandrezner

Tag: Foreign & Public Diplomacy

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