Former Bolivian senator Roger Pinto Molina dies in Brazil

Former Bolivian Senator Roger Pinto Molina died at a public hospital in Brasília this morning. He had been living in Brazil since 2013, when he applied for political asylum claiming he was persecuted by the Bolivian government.

According to the local health department in Brasília, Molina had a  suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest and died today (Aug. 16) in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Hospital de Base, where he was admitted Saturday (12). He was sedated and on mechanical ventilation.

An ultralight aircraft he was flying fell in Luziânia, a municipality in the vicinity of the Federal District. The senator, who was the only person in the plane, had multiple injuries and was hospitalized with traumatic brain injury. Brazil's Air Force is investigating what caused the accident.

Elected as a candidate in a party that opposes Bolivia's President Evo Morales, Molina became known in Brazil in 2012, when he sook refuge from Brazil's Embassy in Bolivia. He lived there as a  political refugee for a few months. In order to leave his country, he needed permission to circulate within Bolivia at liberty.

However, his request was turned down on grounds that he was trying to escape prosecution, accused of causing the Treasury losses of $1.7 million,. Officers at the Brazilian embassy decided to remove him from the embassy and take him to Brazil on an official state car that rode unstopped all the way from La Paz, Bolivia, to Corumbá, Mato Grosso do Sul state in Brazil.

Back then, Bolivian authorities demanded explanations from Brazil. The Brazilian Foreign Minister, Antonio Patriota, resigned amid the controversy.

Translated by Mayra Borges