Rio De Janeiro Stops Screening U.S. Travelers

Fearful of making a significant dent in the flow of incoming tourists, especially from America, the Mayor’s Office of Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro put a temporary halt to the screening of U.S. visitors arriving in the city.

American citizens who came to Rio de Janeiro Monday were welcomed by gorgeous models doling out T-shirts reading Rio Loves You, a rose and surprising gifts such as local jewelry and other items trademarked by local airline Varig.

Judge Catao Alves, speaker of the First Region’s Federal Courthouse in Brasilia, upheld Monday a petition made by Rio’s authorities to stop taking mugs and fingerprints of American travelers coming to the city.

The initiative of giving out gifts was thought up by Riotur, a travel company attached to the municipal Tourism Department, alongside hotel and travel agent associations whose operations have been hampered by the recent practice of screening American sunbathers.

The Brazilian government ordered the enforcement of the screenings of all U.S. vacationers based on the principle of diplomatic reciprocity, passed last December 29, since Washington started screening most foreigners traveling to America.

U.S. authorities began taking mugs and fingerprints of most foreign citizens –with the exception of 27 countries- entering the country, a move that has ever since been rubbing foreign visitors the wrong way.

The Brazilian counteraction triggered a strong response by U.S. State secretary Colin Powell and the American embassy in Brasilia.