Nine-year-old boy Sean Goldman (right) embraces his stepfather, Brazilian Joao Paulo Lins e Silva
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she is "thrilled" that a US father and his young son have been reunited after a five-year custody battle involving Brazil, and sent them warm wishes for the holidays.
"I am thrilled that nine-year-old Sean Goldman was reunited with his father David Goldman earlier today in Rio de Janeiro and that they are flying home to New Jersey," Clinton said in a statement.
She thanked "a number of members of Congress and many concerned parties both here and in Brazil" for helping bringing the long standoff to a successful end.
"We also appreciate the assistance and cooperation of the government of Brazil in upholding its obligations under the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction," she said.
"I offer my warmest wishes for father and son as they celebrate their first holiday season together in five years," Clinton added.
Brazilian television earlier showed the Goldmans leaving Brazil Thursday on a chartered private jet for the United States.
The two were reunited just three hours earlier in the US consulate in Rio de Janeiro, in line with a Brazilian supreme court ruling awarding custody to the father, David Goldman.
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