A Father's Love (28 page)

As the clock ticked toward another year's end, pressure was mounting on the Brazilian government from Congress, the State Department, the White House, and, increasingly, public opinion in Brazil, which to the great credit of the Brazilian people had started to swing to our side. Something had to break soon. And on December 15, 2009, it did.

L
ATE ON THE EVENING OF DECEMBER 15, TRICIA APY GOT WORD from Ricardo that the Brazilian Federal Regional Tribunal, a three-judge appellate court, was about to make a decision regarding the appeals to Judge Pinto's June 1 decision ordering Sean's return to me. We were not exactly sure when the court might act, or whether the Lins e Silvas and Ribeiros might find another way to obfuscate the proceedings, but my lawyers and I agreed that if a ruling came down, I should go back to Rio. As bleak as my last trips to Brazil had been, I didn't want to miss any chance to bring Sean home.

Sure enough, the following day, on Wednesday, December 16, the court issued a unanimous ruling upholding Judge Pinto's return order of seven months earlier, demanding that the Lins e Silvas and Ribeiros return Sean to me at the U.S. consulate in Rio de Janeiro by Friday, December 18.

Almost immediately, reporters showed up on the front yard outside my home. They posed all the usual questions: What do you expect? Do you think this is it? Will you be bringing Sean home?

I replied with an answer that became almost a mantra for me. “I'm hopeful,” I said. “I can't be optimistic because I've gone down there so many times, always under the guise that the rule of law will be followed and I will be reunited with my son and able to bring him home. The judges upheld the first return order, so hopefully this time Sean and I will come home together.”

I quickly put some clothes in a suitcase and was ready to head to the airport. I also packed a number of Christmas presents, hoping to give them to Sean.

When I contacted Congressman Smith to tell him the news, he was ecstatic. It wasn't even a question for him—he offered to go back to Brazil with me, but only if I wanted him to and if he could be helpful. He never imposed; indeed, he left the final decision up to Tricia Apy, Ricardo, and me. We unanimously agreed that his presence would be invaluable.

Although it was a mere nine days before Christmas, Congressman Smith immediately committed to traveling with me to Rio for the third time in less than a year. He knew only too well the legal gamesmanship that might be employed, even at this late point. He and his wife, Marie, were willing for him to travel as a private citizen, at his own expense if necessary, so he could be there with me. Fortunately, as it turned out, he was able to travel with House approval, which not only covered his travel expenses but also gave him added strength with Brazilian officials and our own State Department and consulate.

Moreover, Congressman Smith told me that he was determined to stay as long as necessary to bring Sean home. For the congressman and his wife, it was not about money or politics; it was about family. Marie Smith had met with me and was as emotionally invested in seeing Sean come home as anyone. Still, it touched me deeply that she and Chris would be willing to make such a sacrifice—for the congressman to be apart from their children and grandchildren at this special season—especially when we had no guarantee of the results.

 

 

BECAUSE NEWARK'S AIRPORT was being staked out by the media, and possibly by an insider for Lins e Silva, I decided to fly out of John F. Kennedy Airport in New York at 9:45 PM on Wednesday evening. Just before I left for the airport, I received an e-mail from Bob D'Amico informing me that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had issued a statement expressing her pleasure at the appellate court's decision and her hope that the long legal process was complete.

I greatly appreciated Secretary Clinton's remarks and her expression of support. She continued to be a true soldier in this battle. And as much as I shared her hope that the long nightmare was nearly over, those of us close to the front lines of the fracas knew all too well that the Lins e Silva and Ribeiro families would file appeals to the Supreme Court.

I boarded the plane, leaned back in my seat, and closed my eyes for another late-night flight from New York to Rio. Sleep eluded me; my thoughts raced. Although I had hopes that I'd soon be flying home with Sean sitting next to me, there were still a lot of loose ends. We now had the return order, but at any moment we knew that the Lins e Silvas might try to secure another stay order holding Sean in Brazil. We also worried that even with a return order, if we were stalled at the airport, waiting for a commercial flight back to the States, we would still be vulnerable to the whims of the Brazilian legal system should the Lins e Silvas persuade a Supreme Court Justice to stay Sean's return. Of more concern was the possibility that the Ribeiros or the Lins e Silvas would spirit Sean away, rather than comply with a valid order of the court. These people had seemingly unlimited resources, and to my knowledge the Ribeiros also held Italian passports. Although my attorneys had been assured that the Italian authorities would work closely with us in the event someone tried to secretly remove Sean from Brazil, we were certainly concerned.

Bernie Aronson, Mark DeAngelis, and I had discussed renting a private plane to have standing by at Galeão airport in Rio, ready to whisk us away, but rentals were extremely expensive, especially considering that we didn't know when or even if we'd be able to take off. Bernie's former executive assistant at the State Department, Bill Brownfield, now an ambassador to Colombia, offered to meet Sean and me in Bogotá should we choose to fly to that country, a relatively short plane flight that could be done without a high-powered jet aircraft. From there we could make our way back to the United States on a commercial flight. That, too, however, seemed a complicated and risky venture.

As I looked out the airplane window to once again see Rio's giant statue of Jesus rising in the distance, I still had no definitive exit plan. It was Thursday, December 17, 2009, what would have been Bruna's and my tenth wedding anniversary.

 

 

EVEN WITH THE three-judge panel ordering the kidnappers to turn over my son, I had no illusions about the whole nightmare being over. From the time Judge Pinto issued his initial return order in June, the Lins e Silvas and Ribeiros had filed more than forty appeals in their incessant attempts to delay Sean's return to me. I had no reason to expect any better of them now. I had too much experience with these people; my hopes had been dashed too many times. I could no longer allow myself to get excited; nor did I try to anticipate the next stratagem of Sean's abductors. Instead, I attempted to remain on an even emotional keel, hoping for the best yet realizing that the powerful people we confronted, well-connected members of the Brazilian elite, were used to having their way. I knew they would manipulate the system to produce a judicial finding, however ridiculous its merits, if they thought they could keep Sean in Brazil. They had already pulled more legal rabbits out of more hats than I could fathom, and I was convinced they would try to do so again.

I landed in Rio around 1:30 PM, headed toward the baggage claim, and retrieved my suitcase. The moment I exited the immigration, customs, and security areas, I was greeted by a cacophony of catcalls, some of which were obscene, mixed in with encouraging words from other onlookers. I was instantly surrounded by a throng of photographers, reporters, and television cameras, with people pushing and pulling in every direction. “The boy belongs here!” I heard someone holler. “You just want money!” someone else yelled out, echoing the Lins e Silva smear campaign. Others shouted, “He's your son. The boy belongs with you.” I remained silent and looked straight ahead, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. Airport security personnel and military police surrounded me as I made my way toward the exit. I ignored the scrum and pressed through the crowd and toward the street, where I paused long enough to respond to questions.

When reporters asked me what I thought our chances were of bringing Sean home, I again answered, “I'm hopeful. I've been on the roller-coaster ride too many times. I've made a dozen trips to Brazil, ready to bring Sean home each time, and I've returned empty-handed and feeling as though I was kicked in the teeth again. So I'm hopeful.”

My heart was pounding as I pulled my luggage toward the car that would take me to my hotel. The press crush followed me, and the crowd picked up more people and became more animated as I went along. Police cars with sirens blaring had to surround the car just to get me out of the airport grounds.

Congressman Smith had flown on a different flight, but he arrived in Brazil about the same time I did. Immediately upon landing, he issued a strong statement. “For the sake of Sean's emotional and psychological health, he should be on a plane back to his home in the United States on Friday,” he stated emphatically. “The courts in Brazil have once again determined that Sean Goldman must be returned to his father in the United States, vindicating the right of a father to be with his son, and a son to be with his father.”

Then Congressman Smith inserted a subtle reminder that Sean's return was Brazil's moral duty and had been so since I first applied for help under the Hague Convention. “The decision upholds Brazil's commitment under the Hague Convention to return abducted children.” Revealing a bit of the bulldog side to his personality, Congressman Smith spoke bluntly. “Further frivolous and delaying motions and appeals by the [Lins e] Silva family must stop.”

Congressman Smith said what we were all feeling. “It is long past time for Sean to come home. Sean was four when he was abducted, and now he is nine. For five years, the wheels of justice in Brazil have been torturously slow. David Goldman has been robbed of a large part of his son's childhood. But David is a father who has never given up in his fight to bring his son home. He will not surrender his right to raise his child—rights of which he was wrongly deprived in the 2004 abduction.”

Then, in case there was any doubt about the U.S. position and the potential damage to U.S.-Brazil relations, Congressman Smith added, “The U.S. Congress is strongly behind him.” In his inimitable manner, the congressman spoke frankly and firmly about the consequences to Brazil if they refused to do the right thing. “I hope there are no more delays,” he said. “The world would remain left with the impression that Brazil will not enforce the treaties it signs, and cruelly leaves children like Sean Goldman trapped for years in an endless judicial maze.

“All the world is still watching and waiting to learn if Brazil is a nation of the rule of law, a nation that lives up to its international commitments.”

As we arrived at the J. W. Marriott hotel on Avenida Atlantica, across from Copacabana Beach, the early morning skies were blue and the sun was already shining brightly. I took that as a good sign. I checked into my room under the name “Richard Spain,” as instructed by an intermediary from the U.S. embassy, who had helped arrange my lodging. The Marriott graciously gave me the government rate of $200 a day—still a hefty sum for me—instead of the usual winter holiday daily rate of $550. I hoped that I would not be staying long.

 

 

ALMOST IMMEDIATELY, THE ground shifted below our feet. On Thursday, December 17, before I barely had time to settle in at the hotel, I received news that the Brazilian Supreme Court justice Marco Aurelio de Mello—the same justice who had stymied Sean's coming home in June—issued another stay order on Sean's return, retaining him in Brazil. The Supreme Court was scheduled to go on recess the next day until February 2010! Justice Aurelio de Mello's rationalization of the stay was that it would permit time to review a writ of habeas corpus filed by Silvana Ribeiro, who was a party to the Hague case. Even more perplexing, Aurelio de Mello told the media that the case should be reviewed in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, rather than on the basis of the Hague Convention. Singlehandedly, Aurelio de Mello shunted aside his government's commitment to cooperate according to the Hague Convention. How could it be that one man could effectively repudiate Brazil's international agreement?

Silvana Ribeiro was now insisting that Sean himself take the witness stand to testify in court regarding his wishes, stating whether he wanted to stay in Brazil or return to the United States. Sergio Tostes displayed a poster that he claimed Sean had drawn, depicting a sad boy saying, “I want to stay in Brazil forever.”

I vehemently opposed putting my son on the witness stand. Both the Brazilian Central Authority, on behalf of the Brazilian government, and Ricardo filed immediately to lift the stay with the Brazilian Supreme Court in Brasília, seeking to exclude the most recent injunction issued by Justice Aurelio de Mello. Congressman Smith also responded vigorously by speaking boldly on the Friday, December 18, edition of the
Today
show, on which we appeared together, sitting side by side.

“David's legal team will file, and will aggressively push that an egregious harm is in the process of being done,” the congressman told Meredith Vieira. “Three psychologists have found that David's son, Sean, is being hurt psychologically every day that he is away from his real father—parental alienation.” The Brazilian court-appointed psychologists who had examined Sean warned that the abductors inflicted more psychological damage upon him every day he remained in their captivity. Congressman Smith wasn't going to let either the Brazilian or the American public forget that.

Meredith then asked me, “If the court rules that Sean may testify—and that's the reason for this injunction right now—and if he does testify and says that he wants to stay in Brazil, as his Brazilian relatives have said he will say, then what recourse will you have?”