Brasilia
January 7, 2004

The United States yesterday expressed regret at Brazil's decision to begin fingerprinting and photographing Americans in response to similar border security measures introduced by Washington.

"While we acknowledge Brazil's sovereign right to determine the requirements for entry into Brazil, we regret the way in which new procedures have suddenly been put in place that single out US citizens for exceptional treatment that has meant lengthy delays in processing, such as the case today with a more than nine-hour delay for some US citizens arriving at Rio's international airport," the US embassy said in a statement.

A Brazilian federal judge's order to fingerprint US visitors in retaliation for new US anti-terrorism controls is popular on the nation's streets but is straining diplomatic relations with the US.

Brazil's centre-left Government, while not shy of confrontations with Washington, is considering revoking the order by Judge Julier Sebastiao da Silva after receiving complaints from the US State Department.

Rio de Janeiro's international airport joined other airports across Brazil at the weekend in photographing and fingerprinting all arriving American passengers in a tit-for-tat move meant to respond to a similar US program that began this week. Full Article