On the Brink of an International Crisis

This week, one of the biggest stories in the international media about Brazil focused on the Goldman abduction case and the latest international repercussions of the case.

Sean Goldman was abducted by his Brazilian mother, Bruna Bianchi, in June 2004 from New Jersey. She brought him to Rio de Janeiro under the pretext of a vacation, but decided to stay in Brazil and retain her son illegally there. Sean’s American father, David Goldman, hired lawyers in Brazil and the U.S. shortly after the kidnapping and sought Sean’s immediate return under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, to which both the U.S. and Brazil are signatories.

However, Bruna unilaterally divorced her husband and won custody of her son in Brazilian courts. Later, she remarried a powerful and well-connected Brazilian family lawyer, who ironically defends clients like David Goldman. Bruna died giving birth to her second child in August 2008, and her new husband was given custody of Sean, although under Brazilian law, in the absence of one biological parent, custody is given to the other biological parent. David continued his legal battle, now with Sean’s stepfather and maternal grandmother. In June 2009, a court ordered Sean’s immediate return to the U.S., but the Brazilian family appealed and a stay order was issued to keep Sean in Brazil. Then last week, a federal appeals court ruled to uphold the first court’s decision and send Sean back to the U.S., where his custody should be decided, as the Hague Convention states. However, the Brazilian family managed to get a Supreme Court justice (with whom they have political ties) to issue a stay, and Sean remained in Rio yet again.

Though the case has lasted five years, it only started getting media coverage after Bruna died, and has received occasional bursts of coverage when the case is back in the courts. Though President Obama, Secretary of State Clinton, and several U.S. congressman have been involved in efforts to communicate with the Brazilian government and press for Sean’s return, nothing seemed to work–possibly, until now.

On Friday, Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey halted a Brazilian trade preferences bill worth $2.75 billion. Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Celso Amorim, swiftly scheduled an emergency meeting with the senator. The AGU, the office of the attorney general, issued a writ of mandamus, along with David Goldman’s lawyers, to try to overturn the Supreme Court justice’s decision. The AGU, which represents the Brazilian government, has supported David Goldman, and has now explicitly expressed the danger the case could be for Brazil. The attorney general warned that if Sean isn’t returned to the U.S. swiftly, Brazil could risk losing reciprocity agreements with other countries, and could risk damaging Brazil’s international reputation. He even went as far to say that Brazil could be tried in the Inter-American Court on Human Rights about child abduction.

Also on Friday, the Supreme Court justice responsible for the stay was removed from the case, and an emergency hearing was scheduled for this week, possibly on Monday. It is unclear if the hearing will allow Sean’s immediate return, since the court is now technically on summer break, or if the case will be postponed until February, when the full court reconvenes. New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith, who accompanied David Goldman to Brazil in January, flew to Brazil with David after the appeals court decision and stayed with him through the weekend.

The case, which echoes the Elián Gonzalez case, has now reached the level of international crisis, bringing politics and economics into the picture. This week will be critical to see if the crisis will finally be resolved, or if it will drag on yet again.