Rousseff forces minister out after Bolivian politician flees embassy [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Rousseff forces minister out after Bolivian politician flees embassy
Juan Arias / Fernando Molina Rio de Janeiro / La Paz 27 AGO 2013 - 18:05 CET

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Monday asked Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota to resign. The decision comes hard on the heels of a diplomatic confrontation with Bolivia over the flight into Brazil of Bolivian senator Roger Pinto Molina, whom, it emerged, was aided by the Brazilian embassy in La Paz.

The national press holds that Rousseff was “irritated” to find out that her country’s diplomats had helped Molina escape to Brazil during a covert night-time operation, and asked Patriota to step down.

The incident has worsened already tense bilateral relations between both countries. Bolivia considers Pinto Molina a criminal who has already been convicted of corruption and faces 14 trials for offenses ranging from cutting down trees on his estate to causing losses worth 1.7 million dollars to the state when he was a government official. The Brazilian opposition has long supported Pinto Molina, claiming he is the victim of an attack by the Bolivian government for publicly linking high-ranking officials with the drug trade. Pinto Molina had been living at the Brazilian Embassy since May 28, 2012.

The outgoing foreign minister, who allegedly had no knowledge of the goings-on at the embassy in La Paz, will be transferred to the United Nations, where he will serve as the Brazilian representative. The current UN representative, Luiz Alberto Figueiredo, will be offered the foreign portfolio instead.

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