Roughly a decade ago, I authored a passionate column on Elian Gonzales and how he must be re-united with his Cuban father. The U.S. government rightly agreed, rescuing the small boy from his defiant Miami relatives and sending him back home.

Bloodline always supersedes politics. Today, a similar case is capturing my emotions.

It involves a young American child named Sean Goldman who was taken from New Jersey where his father has lived and moved to Brazil, where his mother had been a native. Never mind that Brazil should have immediately returned this boy. But fast-forward 4 years: The mother has passed away and now the well-connected Brazilian step-father says the boy is his and wants the name on his birth certificate changed.

Thankfully, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., is championing this cause. It’s about respecting fatherhood and obeying international laws. To motivate the Brazilian authorities to honor the parental bond, the lawmaker has introduced legislation to revoke Brazil’s tax privileges under a 1974 trade pact. Last year, those benefits totaled $2.7 billion.

“The U.S. Congress must immediately adjust trade advantages enjoyed by the Brazilian government,” said Smith, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and its Western Hemisphere Subcommittee. “The Brazilian government must understand that these reckless, unending legal maneuvers which have kept a boy separated from his father have no compassion or justice and bring dishonor on the Brazilian government. How long will President Lula allow this disgraceful charade to continue?”

Just as fatherhood trumped politics in the Cuban case, parental rights must also surpass economic considerations in Brazil's case. Brazil, which is dependent on American capital and know-how and particularly with respect to energy-related enterprises, needs to see the light or be subject to immediate trade sanctions. ###



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