Pinto was allied with Cosio and three other lowlands opposition governors who rebelled against Morales in 2008.

But Morales won a referendum the following year that quashed the rebellion. That's when the prosecutions of opposition leaders for alleged corruption began.

Pinto is a close political ally of former Pando Gov. Leopoldo Fernandez.

He has been in jail pending trial for more than three years, charged with instigating a crackdown in September 2008 that claimed the lives of nine indigenous Morales supporters.

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Associated Press writer Bradley Brooks contributed to this report from Sao Paulo, Brazil