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Brazilian High Court Rules for US Father in Custody Dispute

   VOA News 23 December 2009
   David Goldman (L) and US Representative Chris Smith speak to the press
   in Rio de Janeiro, 21 Dec 2009

Photo: AP

   David Goldman (L) and US Representative Chris Smith speak to the press
   in Rio de Janeiro, 21 Dec 2009

   The  American  father  who has fought an international custody dispute
   for five years is hoping to return home from Brazil with his child.
   The  Brazilian  Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that nine-year-old Sean
   Goldman must be returned to his father, David Goldman.
   In  2004,  Goldman's  then-wife,  Bruna Bianchi, took the child to her
   native  Brazil for what she said was a vacation.  While in Brazil, she
   divorced  Goldman  and  married  a  prominent  lawyer.   She  died  in
   childbirth  last  year, and Sean's relatives in Brazil have refused to
   hand him over to his father.
   U.S.  Senator Frank Lautenberg, of Goldman's home state of New Jersey,
   had  blocked a bill to extend billions of dollars in trade benefits to
   Brazil.   But  he  lifted  his  opposition  to  the  legislation after
   Tuesday's Supreme Court ruling, and it passed in the Senate.
   The  case  reached  the  highest  level of both governments, when U.S.
   President  Barack  Obama  met  at  the  White  House in March with his
   Brazilian  counterpart,  Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.  U.S. Secretary of
   State Hillary Clinton has appealed for the boy's return.
   U.S. Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey is in Brazil with Goldman.
   Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

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