Another American Arrested For Gesture In Brazil

For the second time in three weeks, an American has been arrested in Brazil for flying the fickle finger of... well, you know... in the face of officials who were photographing and fingerprinting him.

New Jersey resident Douglas Skolnick, 55, didn't get to see the sights with the rest of his tour group in Foz de Iguacu last week. Instead, he was languishing in a Brazilian jail after being arrested for "showing disrespect" to authorities. Skolnick was jailed, then released, but ordered not to leave his hotel. He can't leave Brazil until he pays a $17,200 fine.

It was the second time a Yanqi had been arrested in Brazil after that country began fingerprinting and photographing US citizens in retaliation for America's new policy of doing the same to visitors from most other countries. Some countries -- mostly European -- are exempt from the policy and Brazilian authorities are apparently miffed that they weren't on the list.

The first time involved an American Airlines flight crew member, Dale Robin Hersh, who was arrested for making a remarkably similar gesture while being processed by Brazilian customs on January 14th. Hersh was sent home and American paid a $12,750 fine.

Officials at the American embassy in Brasilia didn't have any comment on the Skolnick incident. His wife continued on the tour with their charter group to a region of Brazil famed for its panoramic waterfalls.

"They'll go and see the falls and the beauties of this region," federal police spokesman Marcos Koren said of Skolnick, "but he won't know any of the beauty, just the inside of a cell." 

Skolnick "said he knew what happened with the pilot but said he had no intention of insulting the Brazilian authorities or the Brazilian people, but we don't think that's true," Koren told reporters.

FMI: www.brasilemb.org