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Brazilian Vice President Michel Temer said Tuesday he is confident that the impasse between Brazil and Bolivia over a Bolivian opposition senator wanted for corruption can be resolved diplomatically.
"I think these things can be solved through diplomacy. We have very efficient diplomats in both Brazil and Bolivia, who will solve this impasse, which happened accidentally, in the best possible manner," Temer said.
Earlier, Eduardo Saboia, a Brazilian diplomat stationed in Laz Paz, disclosed that he had managed to successfully smuggle Roger Pinto, an opponent of Bolivian President Evo Morales, to Brazil last Friday after the latter was holed up for 15 months in the Brazilian embassy in Bolivia.
Saboia, the Brazilian charge d'affaires in La Paz, described what he did as a "personal decision."
Pinto, who was wanted by Bolivian authorities for corruption and other charges, arrived in Brasilia on Monday after being transported Friday from La Paz to the Brazilian border with an embassy car escorted by Brazilian marines.
The incident has caused rising tensions in diplomatic ties between the two neighboring countries and led to the resignation of Brazil's Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota on Monday evening.
Temer denied that President Dilma Rousseff fired Patriota, saying he volunteered to step down.
Meanwhile, Brazil's Ministry of Defense denied on Tuesday it had any prior knowledge that two marines served as guards on the road trip from La Paz to the Brazilian city of Corumba.
The ministry said in a press release that the two marines were members of a unit in charge of safeguarding Brazil's diplomatic corps in Bolivia.
"The marines took part in the trip because they were called to by the charge d'affaires at the Brazilian embassy in La Paz," the ministry said, adding that the three military attaches in Bolivia were out of the city and not informed of the plan.
"Therefore, no Brazilian authority, within the scope of the Defense Ministry, was consulted or knew about the trip before Mr. Roger Pinto entered Brazilian territory," said the ministry.
According to the ministry, the marines' only objective was to guarantee the security of the charge d'affaires.
