BRASILIA, June 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Former Ecuadorian President Lucio Gutierrez renounced his political asylum in Brazil where he had been since late-April, when he was sacked by the Ecuadorian congress amid a serious political crisis, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

    The ministry said in a communique released by the press that Gutierrez told the Justice Ministry on Monday he decided to give up his political asylum, which was granted by Brazil on April 28.

    "It is a personal decision about which the Brazilian governmentdoes not have to say anything. Mr. Lucio Gutierrez is free to leave Brazil whenever he decides, without anything preventing him from returning to the country whenever he wants to as a tourist," the Foreign Ministry said.

    Gutierrez arrived in Brazil accompanied by his wife Elsa XimenaBohorquez and his youngest daughter Viviana Estefania, who returned to Ecuador in early-May.

    Bohorquez resumed her work as a congress representative with the Patriotic Society Party founded by her husband in 2002.

    In a letter sent to the Brazilian Justice Ministry, the ex-president said he will travel to the United States "for personal reasons." Enditem