US Senator Frank Lautenberg from New Jersey has lifted a hold he had placed on a trade export tariffs relief bill that affects 130 countries, and the bill quickly passed the Senate. One of the countries is Brazil, which stands to benefit by $2.75 billion, reports CNN. Lautenberg placed the hold on the bill to put pressure on Brazil over the case of Sean and David Goldman. Tuesday, a Brazilian Supreme Court justice gave David, the father, custody of his son Sean, lifting an earlier stay on the case designed to give the justices time to review the case.
David Goldman, a US citizen, has been trying to obtain custody of his son, Sean, age 9, who is a dual national with US and Brazilian citizenship, since the boy’s mother took him to Brazil in 2004 and refused to return to the US. She died in 2008. The case has had international attention since because the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction was designed to avoid situations like this, and the case has strained US-Brazil relations. The Convention calls for courts to rule on such a case within six weeks, but Brazil has taken far longer to move the case through its judicial system.
Links to other sites: CNN, CS Monitor
A Brazilian federal appeals court has upheld an earlier ruling in favour of US father David Goldman, who has been trying to obtain custody and the return of his son since the child was taken to Brazil by his mother in 2004. The case has gained international attention as a test case for the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. The boy, who was four at the time he was taken for what Goldman says was supposed to be a two-week vacation, has US and Brazilian citizenship. His mother died in 2008 and Goldman argues that as the sole surviving parent, he should have custody, but the boy’s maternal family and stepfather argue that he wants to stay with them and have said they intend to appeal.
