Opposition organizes Senator Molina's visit to the Chamber of Deputies.
Brazilian congressmen Otavio Leite (RJ) and Carlos Sampaio (SP) invited Bolivian parliamentarian Roger Pinto Molina, who fled the Brazilian embassy in La Paz, to speak this afternoon about his request for political asylum in Brazil, the crisis triggered by his departure from Bolivia, and the accusations made against him by the Bolivian government.
Renata Giraldi
Reporter from Agência Brasil
Brasilia – Ten days in Brazil, Bolivian opposition senator Roger Pinto Molina, 53, will be heard today (3) in the Chamber’s Public Security and Combating Organized Crime Committee. The public hearing with the Bolivian was proposed by PSDB deputies Otavio Leite (RJ) and Carlos Sampaio (SP). The parliamentarians want to hear the senator about his request for political asylum in Brazil, the crisis triggered by his departure from Bolivia and the accusations made by the Bolivian government against him.
Until Friday (6), a high-level mission with Bolivian authorities will land in Brasília to verify the situation of Pinto Molina, who spent 455 days sheltered in the Brazilian Embassy in La Paz (capital of Bolivia) and arrived in Brazilian territory on the 24th. The government of the Bolivian president, Evo Morales, says that the parliamentarian is a "common delinquent". The senator denies the accusations.
The high-level mission is comprised of ministers Carlos Romero (Chief of Staff), Nardi Suxo (Institutional Transparency and Fight against Corruption), Cecilia Ayllón (Justice), and members of the Public Prosecutor's Office. Pinto Molina spent the last few days at a farm in Goiás, on the outskirts of Brasília.
The mission's objective in Brasília is to present documents regarding the more than 20 legal proceedings involving Pinto Molina. According to Bolivian authorities, the opposition parliamentarian is accused of embezzlement and corruption. The Minister of Communication, Amanda Dávila, stated that the mission will present documents to Brazilian authorities.
In June 2012, Brazil granted diplomatic asylum to the senator, but the Bolivian government did not give him safe passage to leave the country.
Pinto Molina was taken from Bolivia to Brazil in an operation organized by the Brazilian Chargé d'Affaires in La Paz, diplomat Eduardo Saboia, which triggered a diplomatic crisis. As a result, then-Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota was replaced by Luiz Alberto Figueiredo Machado.
Edited by: Davi Oliveira