The Argentine father who denounced his ex-wife was reunited with his children in Brazil after more than two years without seeing them.

September 15, 2023, was the last time Herman Kruase saw his children in person, before they were transferred to Brazil by unilateral decision of their mother, Juliana Magalhães de Lima . After a long wait, amid legal disputes, the man from La Plata was reunited with the children on Saturday in the city of São Paulo after a federal judge from the neighboring country will authorize a system of virtual and in-person visits .

With Estudiantes de La Plata shirts brought from Argentina and a cell phone loaded with videos showing greetings from family and friends from the City Bell school they attended and the Los Tilos club where they played rugby, the 52-year-old Argentinian prepared to see his children again at a shopping center located north of São Paulo. In the hours before, he wondered if they would remember him.

The reunion was decided by Judge Marco Aurelio De Mello Castrianni just eight days earlier, citing, among other arguments, the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction . It was established that it would be held in a " public, neutral, and easily accessible setting ." Krause was accompanied by a social worker appointed by the courts and a psychologist hired by the Argentine.

“It was hard and very difficult,” she described the moment she and her children to LA NACION. “ They hadn't seen me in two years. At first, they were like two statues when I arrived. They said they wanted to leave and were crying, but little by little, we got them back on track, talking,” she said of those first minutes. As the hours passed, she recounted, the three of them were able to experience that reunion more calmly.

During the week, Krause's two planned video calls with Paco and Mateus fell through. Therefore, expectations regarding compliance with the court order for the weekend remained in doubt until the last minute due to a series of appeals filed by the children's mother, who brought them illegally to Brazil in October 2024 .

The couple divorced in 2022 amid allegations of sexual and gender abuse that were unsuccessful in the Argentine courts. After several twists and turns, including a visitation arrangement while living separately in La Plata, on October 28, 2024, the woman traveled to Misiones aboard a taxi, crossed the border, avoiding immigration controls, and settled in São Paulo with the children. This led to the intervention of the Foreign Ministry and even an Interpol wanted alert.

The presence of the professionals who accompanied the process was key, according to Krause, in mediating the relationship, as he admitted he was " nervous and anxious ." As he recounted, Mateus, the youngest, immediately bonded, and they even hugged and kissed. But Paco, on the other hand, was more reluctant and serious on the first day.

On Saturday, Krause took them to a toy store and for ice cream. The next day, they celebrated Paco's birthday, which was on Monday: they bought a cake and a candle, sang Happy Birthday, and went bowling. He recognized them as much taller, but with "the same little faces."

Although the professionals had warned her that the first meeting would be complicated and might only last 10 minutes, as a way to calm the father's expectations, they spent two hours together on Saturday and three on Sunday. "I know they were happy. Things are going well, " she told LA NACION.

In the context of the International Day Against False Reports, commemorated every September 9th , Krause insisted that "an urgent solution must be found to these cases, because the damage they cause, not only to adults but also to children, is tremendous."

“ It's horrible to have to go through this . It's the worst thing that can happen to you: to be reported for abusing your own children,” she warned, emphasizing that “parental alienation” exists and is a problem that many parents who are separated from their children suffer under this same circumstances. “You have to experience it to know it exists. It moves me to see my children the way I saw them ,” she confessed.

For the remainder of the month, four more in-person meetings are scheduled (the 13th, 14th, 20th, and 21st) and new video calls every Monday and Tuesday. This week's, unlike the first two, were actually possible: " I was surprised because they were both sitting down . We spent half an hour together."

In the court ruling, the court ordered Magalhaes to " guarantee the children's access to the virtual visiting environment , ensuring they use appropriate equipment (with a camera, microphone, and stable internet connection) during the previously established hours, ensuring that contact is respectful, continuous, and free from undue interference."

"It was clear to the social worker that the children aren't afraid of me, nor is there any danger," Krause told LA NACION after the reunion, and she now eagerly awaits the next steps in parental reconnection.

By Joaquín Pérez Laudizio

According to