The Bruna Vasconcelos affair refers to the kidnapping, illegal adoption by an Israeli couple and later return to Brazil under a court order of a baby girl called Bruna Aparecida Vasconcelos. She was just 4 months old when she was abducted from her home by a false nanny in 1986. The case generated major commotion and gained huge repercussions at the time,[1] after British TV channel Independent Television, or ITV (currently known as Channel 3)[2] located the girl's biological mother, Rosilda Gonçalves, and helped her bring Bruna back to Brazil in 1988. The girl had been illegally taken to Israel by the gang of baby trafficker Arlete Hilú for adoption by the Turgeman family. .
Bruna is believed to be the only of thousands of Brazilian babies taken from the country for adoption by foreign families who was later brought back to her biological family.[3]
Personal information
editBruna Aparecida Vasconcelos was born in Curitiba, capital of Brazilian state Paraná, on June 12, 1986, to Rosilda Gonçalves, them a 30-year-old manicurist, and Luís Américo Vasconcelos, then a 32-year-old workshop mechanic. Rosilda and Luís Américo were not officially married but they had three other children by the time Bruna was born: Gilberto (15-year-old in 1986), Cléverson (12), and Vanessa (6)[4]. Rosilda had three children of her own, and Luís Américo had six other of his own[5]. When Bruna was 14 years old, she would became mother to the first of her two children[5].
Kidnapping and adoption
editBruna Aparecida Vasconcelos was born on June 12, 1986[1], and was just 4 months-old when she was taken from the home she lived with her mom and siblings by a false nanny on October 13, 1986. They lived in Cotolengo, a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Curitiba.
Bruna's mother, Rosilda, had hired Marisa Vieira[6], the false nanny, a few days earlier as she started working and could not stay home taking care of her daughter during the day[6].
According to the press at the time, Marisa Vieira had connections to Arlete Hilú's gang,[7] which trafficked Brazilian newborns and took them illegally out of the country to nations where they would sold for tens of thousands of dollars to couples looking to adopt. Vieira had help from a man called Rodolfo Garcia to kidnap Bruna and take her to Arlete's gang. She was arrested two days later, on October 15[6], and sentenced to 2 years and 11 months in prison[6], but by then the baby had already been taken to Israel.
- ^ a b "Justiça de Israel decide devolver menina Bruna sequestrada aos 4 meses no Brasil". Globoplay. Globo Repórter. 17 June 1988. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ^ "Israelis Hear About Bribery In Latin America Adoptions". TimesMachine. The New York Times. 18 July 1988. Archived from the original on 23 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ^ SILVA, Marleth (19 May 2018). "Sobre Bruna e a exportação de crianças pobres". Gazeta do Povo. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ^ FELDENS, Martha (1 July 1988). "Curitiba faz festa para Bruna que não ligou para governador" (PDF). Jornal do Brasil: 5. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ^ a b HOINEFF, Nelson (5 August 2008). "Um documentário, uma lição de Brasil". Observatório da Imprensa. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Bruna, raptada e levada a Israel, comove o mundo". Folha de Londrina. 20 March 1999. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ^ CORNELSEN, Mara (12 June 2004). "Bruna, 18 anos e uma longa história". Tribuna da Imprensa. Retrieved 24 August 2023.