Pinto did not make any statement but one of his colleagues, Sen. Geanine Anez, said Brazil had confirmed Pinto's accusations.

Tovar Munes, a spokesman for Brazil's Foreign Ministry in Brasilia, said Pinto remained in the embassy in La Paz.

Despite winning asylum, Pinto will not be allowed to travel to Brazil until the Bolivian government agrees with Brazil's action, Munes said, citing rules within a 1954 convention on diplomatic asylum.

If the Bolivian government decides it will not allow Pinto to leave, "he could give up his asylum request and leave the embassy, or he could stay for a long period of time at the embassy," said Munes.

The spokesman added that Pinto's is alone in the embassy that his family is not with him.

Pinto is the first opponent of Morales from Bolivia's weak, splintered opposition to obtain asylum in Brazil.

Others have obtained it in Peru and Paraguay, where former Tarija state Gov. Mario Cosio fled after being charged with corruption.