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Custody Battle Causes US, Brazil Rift By GEOFF MULVIHILL, AP
posted: 9 HOURS 31 MINUTES AGOcomments: 310filed under: National News, World NewsPrintShareText SizeAAAMOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (March 13) - A New Jersey man trying to bring his son back from Brazil says the messy custody case is really not a matter of international relations.
"It's about the pure, simple and God-given right of a parent to raise their child," David Goldman said by phone Friday from Rio de Janeiro, where he had visited with his son.
But as President Barack Obama and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva prepare for a White House meeting on Saturday, the political maneuvering in the case has intensified.
The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously urged Brazil this week to "act with extreme urgency" to return the boy to his father, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she talked with high-ranking Brazilian officials about returning the child.
As the presidents meet on Saturday, supporters of the boy's father, Goldman, are planning a rally in Washington, and Brazilian critics of Goldman will protest Sunday outside his Rio de Janeiro hotel, according to Rio's O Globo newspaper.
Goldman plans to return by Monday to New Jersey, where the state Senate is considering a resolution supporting him.
Goldman is asserting his rights under the Hague Convention on Child Abductions, and while his case has received more attention than most, it's far from the only one. State Department spokeswoman Megan Mattson says about 3,000 abducted U.S. children are currently in other countries, including 70 in Brazil, fifth most after Mexico, India, Japan and Canada.
Goldman, who says he's spent about $360,000 on the case, has appeared on TV shows from "Dateline NBC" to "Dr. Phil" in the U.S., and the saga has become a major story in Brazil in recent weeks.
His quest goes back to 2004, when Bruna Bianchi took her 4-year-old son on vacation to Brazil with her husband's permission. Goldman says he was shocked when she called a few days later and said she would not be returning. He considers it an abduction.
Brazil Custody Battle
This case is no different from the Elian Gonzalez case when his father, from Cuba, tried to regain custody of his child. Despite all of the protests here in the US over that case, I sided with sending the boy back to his father, even though that meant he would be raised in Cuba. Biological parents have an inherent right to raise their own children. Obama needs to put pressure on Brasil to do the right thing. Stating that this is being handled by the Brazilian courts is a slap in the face to parental rights.
posted: 9 HOURS 31 MINUTES AGOcomments: 310filed under: National News, World NewsPrintShareText SizeAAAMOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (March 13) - A New Jersey man trying to bring his son back from Brazil says the messy custody case is really not a matter of international relations.
"It's about the pure, simple and God-given right of a parent to raise their child," David Goldman said by phone Friday from Rio de Janeiro, where he had visited with his son.
But as President Barack Obama and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva prepare for a White House meeting on Saturday, the political maneuvering in the case has intensified.
The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously urged Brazil this week to "act with extreme urgency" to return the boy to his father, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she talked with high-ranking Brazilian officials about returning the child.
As the presidents meet on Saturday, supporters of the boy's father, Goldman, are planning a rally in Washington, and Brazilian critics of Goldman will protest Sunday outside his Rio de Janeiro hotel, according to Rio's O Globo newspaper.
Goldman plans to return by Monday to New Jersey, where the state Senate is considering a resolution supporting him.
Goldman is asserting his rights under the Hague Convention on Child Abductions, and while his case has received more attention than most, it's far from the only one. State Department spokeswoman Megan Mattson says about 3,000 abducted U.S. children are currently in other countries, including 70 in Brazil, fifth most after Mexico, India, Japan and Canada.
Goldman, who says he's spent about $360,000 on the case, has appeared on TV shows from "Dateline NBC" to "Dr. Phil" in the U.S., and the saga has become a major story in Brazil in recent weeks.
His quest goes back to 2004, when Bruna Bianchi took her 4-year-old son on vacation to Brazil with her husband's permission. Goldman says he was shocked when she called a few days later and said she would not be returning. He considers it an abduction.
Brazil Custody Battle
This case is no different from the Elian Gonzalez case when his father, from Cuba, tried to regain custody of his child. Despite all of the protests here in the US over that case, I sided with sending the boy back to his father, even though that meant he would be raised in Cuba. Biological parents have an inherent right to raise their own children. Obama needs to put pressure on Brasil to do the right thing. Stating that this is being handled by the Brazilian courts is a slap in the face to parental rights.
