Brazil court blocks father-son reunion

I hate to say it, but I knew it.

It was too soon to claim victory Monday, when a Brazilian federal court ruled in favor of David Goldman to be reunited with his son after a four-year custody battle.

The federal court ordered the boy to be handed over to him today at a U.S. consulate in Rio de Janeiro, but Brazil's supreme court agreed late Tuesday to hear a challenge to the case, AP reported Wednesday.

I'm almost speechless--almost. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)

Goldman rushed to Brazil earlier this week, hoping to bring home the son who has become the center of an ongoing custody dispute and debate over whether Brazilian courts or international law can determine what's best for the child, AP reported. Instead, Goldman may be heading home to New Jersey like he has many times during these last four years of trying to get his son back from his ex-wife's husband.

"This isn't good, this isn't good at all," Goldman told NBC's Today show Wednesday. "He's got to come home with me. He is in a very unhealthy environment and this has to stop."

Both sides in the multiyear custody fight say they want what's best for 9-year-old Sean Goldman. He's been living in Brazil since 2004, when his Brazilian mother, Bruna, took (kidnapped) him on vacation to visit her relatives and never returned. She divorced David Goldman in Brazil and married Rio de Janeiro lawyer Joao Paulo Lins e Silva. She died last year of complications from the birth of another child, and Sean has been living with his stepfather.

Goldman's attorney, Patricia Apy, says Sean's Brazilian relatives blocked a court-ordered visit he had scheduled with his son for Wednesday, AP reported.

Apy says they were told the boy was too traumatized by the ongoing controversy, which has garnered international headlines and reached the highest levels of the Brazilian and U.S. governments, according to the report.

"David is extremely reluctant to attempt to force access when he knows the histrionics that these people are subjecting him to," Apy said.

Sean's Brazilian relatives, and the group behind the latest supreme court challenge, counter that removing the boy from the environment he has lived in since he was 4 years old would traumatize him the most, AP reported.

The case took on international diplomatic overtones this spring when the U.S. Congress called on Brazil to permit the boy's return. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made the same request and President Barack Obama discussed the matter with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva when he visited Washington earlier this year, according to the report.

The so-called Brazilian relatives reportedly are gangsters with connections in the media, which they blocked from covering the story, and the courts. So there is no way for Goldman to obtain justice there.

Obama, Clinton, the U.S. Congress...and Brazil still won't return son to father? How much in aid and loans have we given that country? Hmm.

It's time for a dose of CIA...or some Voodoo, if you ask me.

Source: Me, The Associated Press
Copyright © 2009

Goldman might finally get his son back

David Goldman's fight to get his son back has been the subject of several investigative journalism TV shows and interviews. (CNN photo).

The very handsome and devoted New Jersey man whose efforts to gain custody of his son--whom he adored, just watch the home videos--being held in Brazil attracted international attention may have finally gotten his wish.

David Goldman's lawyer, Patricia Apy, said Monday night that a Brazilian federal court has ruled that Goldman's son should be returned to the U.S., CNN reported.

I certainly hope that this time it's for real and this man will be reunited with his son after his now-deceased ex-wife (I'm sorry, but...what a bitch!) and her Brazilian husband, who, after her death, had the nerve to file for custody of the kid. All of this while Goldman begged to see his kid to no avail.

Apy said she found out Monday afternoon about the court's decision, which calls for 8-year-old Sean Goldman to be turned over to the U.S. Consulate in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday. Apy said David Goldman is traveling to Brazil and expected to arrive in Rio de Janeiro early Tuesday morning, CNN reported.

Sean's mother, who was Brazilian, divorced Goldman and returned to Brazil with Sean in 2004. She died in 2008 while giving birth to another child. Sean was was being raised in Brazil by his stepfather. (Right: family photo)

Apy said Goldman was "very happy" at the news, and that it had been "a long five years," CNN reported. I for one hope the courts will finally hand this child over to his father.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton referred to the case Monday, telling reporters, "I also wanted just to take this opportunity to recognize the decision by the Brazilian federal court today ordering a young American boy, Sean Goldman, to be reunited with his father, David. It's taken a long time for this day to come, but we will work with the Goldman family and the Brazilian government, with the goal of ensuring this young boy's return."

Apy said she had not received a copy of the Brazilian court decision but expected to get one on Tuesday.

All that's left to see is whether or not the this will actually happen. Somehow, I doubt it.

The stepfather hasn't kept his word in the past when it came to scheduled Coleman-Sean son visits. Apparently, the daughter he had with Sean's mother isn't enough for him, and he has done everything in his power to make sure Coleman never sees his son again. Therefore, I won't be surprised if the guy somehow appeals this decision or just doesn't show up Wednesday.

And if that happens, the U.S. government should take some definite action and fuck diplomacy, if you ask me.

Source: CNN
Copyright © 2009