United States Court of Appeals
                      For the First Circuit


No. 20-1251

                  VERONICA LUZ MALAVER AVENDANO,

                      Plaintiff, Appellant,

                                v.

                  LEONARDO ALFONZO BLANCO BALZA,

                       Defendant, Appellee.


           APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
                 FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

         [Hon. Allison D. Burroughs, U.S. District Judge]


                              Before

                       Howard, Chief Judge,
                      Barron, Circuit Judge,
                       and Katzmann, Judge.


     Matthew P. Barach, with whom Barach Law Group LLC was on
brief, for appellant.
     Shamis N. Beckley, with whom Dana M. McSherry, Annabel
Rodriguez, and McDermott Will & Emery LLP were on brief, for
appellees.

                         January 11, 2021




     
       Of the United States Court of International Trade, sitting
by designation.
              KATZMANN,     Judge.     This    wrenching     case    involves    the

application of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of

International       Child     Abduction       (Hague    Convention)       and   its

implementing statute to a father's wrongful retention of a child,

herein "G*" to protect his privacy.              See Oct. 25, 1980, T.I.A.S.

No. 11,670, 1343 U.N.T.S. 89, reprinted in 

-01

(Mar.   26,    1986);     International       Child    Abduction    Remedies    Act

(ICARA), 

 et seq. G*'s mother, plaintiff-appellant

Veronica Luz Malaver Avendano (Avendano), sought G*'s return to

Venezuela, alleging that G*'s father, defendant-appellee Leonardo

Alfonzo Blanco Balza (Balza), abducted G* in contravention of a

Venezuelan child custody order and the Hague Convention.                        The

district   court     determined       that    Balza    admitted     to   unlawfully

retaining G* in contravention of the Hague Convention and the

implementing statute.         However, after determining that Balza had

established that G* is a mature child such that the court should

consider G*'s stated desire to remain with his father in the United

States, the district court denied Avendano's petition for return

of her son to Venezuela.             Avendano appeals that decision.             We

affirm.

                                 I.     BACKGROUND

                          A. Hague Convention Framework

              The   Hague    Convention      "aims     to   deter   parents     from

abducting their children to a country whose courts might side with


                                       - 2 -
them in a custody battle."               Díaz-Alarcón v. Flández-Marcel, 

, 305 (1st Cir. 2019) (citing Darín v. Olivero-Huffman,

, 7 (1st Cir. 2014)).             Relevant here, the United States

and Venezuela are contracting parties to the Hague Convention.

See      Status     Table,        Hague     Conf.    on     Priv.    Int'l     L.,

https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/status-

table/?cid=24 (last visited Dec. 21, 2020).               In the United States,

ICARA implements the Hague Convention and permits a parent to

petition a federal or state court to return an abducted child under

the   age   of    sixteen    to    the    country   of    the   child's   habitual

residence.       See 

, 9003(b).           The Hague Convention

applies only to determine whether a child should be returned, see

Hague Convention, art. 1, and does not empower the court to make

any determinations regarding child custody.               The court simply asks

whether a custody decision should be made in the United States or

in the country of the child's habitual residence.                   Díaz-Alarcón,

944 F.3d at 305–06; Walsh v. Walsh, 

, 218 (1st Cir.

2000).

             "The removal or ret