After ousting Patriota, Molina wants to leave Brazil.
Lawyer Fernando Tibúrcio Peña, who defends Senator Roger Pinto Molina, who fled the Brazilian embassy in La Paz, criticizes the "politicization of his client's case" and says he is negotiating asylum in two countries bordering Brazil; Molina's escape led to the resignation of Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota.
Renata Giraldi*
Reporter from Agência Brasil
Brasilia – Lawyer Fernando Tibúrcio Peña, who defends Bolivian opposition senator Roger Pinto Molina, said today (30) that he is negotiating the possibility of obtaining political asylum for his client in two Latin American countries that border Brazil, if his case becomes politicized. In an interview with Agência Brasil, Tibúrcio lamented "the politicization of the process". According to him, politicizing the case influences technical and legal issues.
The Bolivian parliamentarian remains in Brasília, but is preparing to visit his wife and daughters in Acre. "It's a shame all this politicization, because the technical and legal discussion gets lost in the midst of it all," the lawyer emphasized. "We insist on keeping the senator in Brazilian territory, but we have to negotiate alternatives if that's not possible."
Tibúrcio said he has already spoken with the ambassadors of two Latin American countries about the possibility of political asylum for Pinto Molina. However, to avoid jeopardizing the negotiations, the lawyer is keeping the names of the countries whose representatives were consulted confidential. It is known, however, that they are countries that share a border and to which there are direct flights from Brazil.
Asked about the possibility of Molina being sent back to Bolivia, as requested by President Evo Morales, the lawyer said that "return" is the "most absurd" proposal he has heard in recent days. "There is no doubt that, today, the senator's situation is that of someone with political asylum, as stated by Vice-President Michel Temer, who is a brilliant jurist. To imagine the senator's return is the most impossible and absurd thing there is. The chances are below zero," he stated.
A week ago, Senator Roger Pinto Molina, who opposes the government of Evo Morales, left the Brazilian embassy in La Paz, where he had spent about a year and a half, with the help of diplomat Eduardo Saboia, who took responsibility for the operation to remove the parliamentarian from Bolivia. Even with Bolivian authorities stating that relations between Brazil and Bolivia were not affected, the case provoked a diplomatic crisis that resulted in the dismissal of the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Patriota, by Ambassador Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado, who took over the ministry on Wednesday (28).
*Contributed by Carolina Gonçalves
Editing: Nadia Franco