Bolivian President Evo Morales has appealed to Brazil to return opposition senator Roger Pinto Molina, who was smuggled into Brazil over the weekend to avoid a one-year sentence for corruption.
"What Brazil has to do is return Roger Pinto for him to be subjected to Bolivian law. That would be the best way to contribute to the fight against corruption," Xinhua quoted Morales as saying Wednesday.
With the help of a Brazilian diplomat, the senator hid in a diplomatic car and got into Brazil after a 22-hour ride. The Brazilian diplomat later admitted acting alone in planning and undertaking the getaway.
Describing Pinto as "a confessed criminal" who should not have left the country, Morales said he was irked by the way Pinto left Bolivia and demanded an explanation from the Brazilian government, which has sacked its foreign minister Antonio Patriota over the Pinto case.
"We are waiting for an official response to the diplomatic note sent by the (Bolivian) foreign ministry," said Morales, adding that he believed conservative factions within Brazil "want a confrontation" between the two countries.
Meanwhile, a top Brazilian official said Wednesday that his country's role in helping a Bolivian senator escape justice infringed on its neighbour's sovereignty and caused "a great problem", Xinhua reported.
"You can't abet someone's departure from a country by damaging its sovereignty. You have the right to pressure, negotiate, discuss, but not to do that. The Brazilian government is really bothered by the incident," said Gilberto Carvalho, minister of the general secretariat of the presidency.