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Brazil wants action on Iruan

Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso has ordered his foreign ministry to intervene in the custody dispute over orphan Iruan Ergui Wu (吳憶樺), reports said yesterday.

It was unclear, however, what measures the Brazilian government was considering.

Paulo A.P. Pinto, head of the Brazil Business Center in Taipei, said he hadn't received "any instructions from the foreign ministry." But he added that the job of his office was to "ensure the safety of the child" with or without the Brazilian president's instruction.

Katharine Chang (張小月), spokeswoman for Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the case was an "international legal dispute" and should be resolved through the courts.

Brazilian government spokesman George Lamaziere told reporters on Tuesday that Foreign Minister Celso Lafer, under Cardoso's directive, is to meet with Ana Corsa, a member of the Brazilian House of Representatives, on July 25 to discuss the custody dispute.

According to Lamaziere, Corsa has been assisting Iruan's Brazilian grandmother, Rosa Leocadia Da Silva Ergui, to seek a solution to the dispute.

Rosa had been granted legal guardianship of Iruan by a Brazilian court, but the boy's Taiwanese uncle has refused to return the child to her.

The Brazilian foreign ministry told the speaker of the Estado de Rio Grande do Sul State Assembly last week that because Iruan's guardianship is a personal and family issue, his Brazilian relatives should retain a lawyer in Taiwan to resolve the case.

Iruan was born to a Brazilian mother who died in Brazil three years ago and a Taiwanese father, Wu Teng-shu (吳登樹), the captain of a Taiwanese fishing vessel. Wu died in March this year, 11 days after he brought the boy from Brazil to visit his hometown in Kaohsiung County.

Iruan's Taiwanese uncle, Wu Huo-yen (吳火眼), managed to obtain permanent resident status for the boy in late June, claiming he did so to fulfill his brother's wish that the child be raised in Taiwan and receive a Chinese-style education.

In response to the reported involvement of the Brazilian president in the dispute, Iruan's aunt said yesterday that Iruan lives a quiet life with his uncle and the family hoped not to be disturbed any further. If Iruan's Brazilian grandmother insisted on bringing the dispute to court, they will simply face the matter, added Iruan's aunt.
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