Sean Goldman says on American TV that his father is his best friend

04/27/2012 - 11h28

In his first interview after arriving in the U.S. two years ago, Sean Goldman, 11, said he was confused when he was made to leave Brazil after a court decision, and that he had to hide his feelings to avoid isolation.

Sean Goldman was born in the U.S. and brought to Brazil in 2004 by his mother, Bruna Bianchi, who died in 2008.

Sean left the U.S. without the consent of his American father, David Goldman. After Bruna's death and disputes in court, the Brazilian Supreme Court decided to give David the right to take his son to the U.S.

"I didn't want to be alone, so I had to hide my feelings and try to live with the situation," said Sean in an interview with U.S. channel NBC's Today Show, which will air tonight in the U.S.

NBC paid for the flight that took David Goldman and Sean from Rio de Janeiro to Florida in 2009. David has not given interviews to other media since then.

In the interview, Sean said he was not angry at going back to the U.S., but that he was confused, with mixed feelings about the move.

"[I remember I was] dragged through streets full of cameramen, with a lot of people pushing and shouting my name. I just wanted to get through quickly," he said.

Sean said he never asked his Brazilian family why his father was not in Brazil with them because he was afraid. He also said that today David is his best friend.

The interview with David Goldman also will air today.

STRANGE

Frans Nederstigt, the lawyer of Silvana Bianchi, Sean's maternal grandmother, is negotiating with David to make Sean contact his Brazilian family again. He said she found the interview strange.

"Now Sean is allowed to speak to journalists, but he is not even allowed to tell U.S. courts if he wants to talk to his grandmother," says Nederstigt.

He also said Sean's grandmother is willing to meet David's lawyer's demands to speak to Sean again, but that among such demands is US$ 200,000 to be paid to the U.S. lawyers, with which Nederstigt does not agree.

GRANDMOTHER CRITICIZES EXPOSURE

Silvana Bianchi, the grandmother of Sean Goldman, 11, has not seen her grandson for 30 months nor received any news from him for a year and a half - the last time they spoke, he called her and spoke in English. Bianchi said yesterday that she is shocked with Sean's appearance on U.S. TV.

"He [David Goldman, Sean's father] does not let my grandson contact his maternal family, saying that is intended to protect the boy, but he exposes Sean on national TV in the U.S."

Bianchi says David's permission to allow Sean to be interviewed on a TV show is "outrageous."

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO