More people in Brazil oppose visa requirements for U.S. citizens

Eduardo Sonovicz, president of Brazil’s Tourism Institute (EMBRATUR) called Monday on the government to eliminate visa requirements for American travelers visiting the country. The nation’s Tourism Minister Walfrido Mares Guia had made a similar statement not so long ago.

“We must ease the travel flow into Brazil,” Mr. Sonovicz was quoted as saying in Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper.

The EMBRATUR official also blasted the ongoing screening of American citizens who enter the country based on the principle of diplomatic reciprocity and following a similar action applied in U.S. soil to trippers from Brazil and other countries around the world.

For his part, Mr. Guia voiced the same opinion on the Sunday issue of the Journal do Brazil daily.

By removing visa requirements for U.S. citizens traveling to Brazil, the country “does not need to collect the $100 it did pick up today. Tourists come, show their passports and there they go. No visas, no payments,” Minister Guia said.

The Brazilian Tourism Minister favors the screening of American trekkers to a lower profile and as long as the process is “neither aggressive nor retaliatory.”

Screening of American citizens in Brazilian airports (authorities take mugs and fingerprints) has rubbed both Washington and Brasilia the wrong way despite efforts by the two nations to call that kind of treatment a good riddance anytime soon. President Lula has urged George W. Bush to drop visa requirements for nationals from both countries.