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US Father Gets Custody of Son After Legal Saga in Brazil

   A  Brazilian-American  boy  at  the center of an international custody
   battle  is  returning to the United States, ending a highly-publicized
   legal saga.

   VOA News 24 December 2009
   David  Goldman,  top, followed by his 9-year-old son Sean, waves as he
   boards  a  plane  at  Galeao airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 24 Dec
   2009

Photo: AP

   David  Goldman,  top, followed by his 9-year-old son Sean, waves as he
   boards  a  plane  at  Galeao airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 24 Dec
   2009

   Nine-year-old Sean Goldman and his father David boarded an airplane to
   the United States Thursday, after being reunited for the first time in
   five years.
   The  reunion  took  place  in  Rio de Janeiro, two days after Brazil's
   Supreme  Court  ruled the boy's Brazilian family must turn him over to
   his father.
   In  a  statement,  U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she is
   "thrilled"   that   the   two   were  reunited.   She  also  expressed
   appreciation for the Brazilian government's cooperation.
   The  drama began in 2004, when Sean's mother Bruna Bianchi took him to
   her  native  Brazil  for  what  she said was a vacation.  Instead, she
   stayed,  divorced  Sean's  father and married a prominent lawyer.  She
   died in childbirth last year.
   Brazilian  relatives  of  the nine-year-old took the boy into the U.S.
   consulate  in  Rio de Janeiro Thursday, after ending their legal fight
   to keep him in Brazil.
   The  case  created tension in Brazilian-American diplomatic relations.
   It was a subject of discussion between U.S. President Barack Obama and
   his  Brazilian  counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva when they met at
   the White House in March.
   
   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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