RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said on Wednesday that maintaining good relations with South Amercian neighbors is a priority for her administration and her country backs actions with UN support in Syria.
Appointing a new foreign minister, the president said that neighboring countries deserve not only respect, but "an attitude of solidarity and cooperation."
Her remarks came in the wake of a diplomatic rift with Bolivia after a Brazilian diplomat helped last Friday Bolivian opposition senator Roger Pinto flee his country.
Pinto, who was sentenced to a year in prison in a corruption case, fled the Bolivian capital of La Paz in an embassy vehicle with the help of Brazilian charge d'affaires Eduardo Saboia. He was granted political asylum by Brazil after taking refuge in its embassy in La Paz last year.
The incident led to the resignation of Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota, who was replaced by Luiz Alberto Figueiredo, ambassador to the UN.
"Brazil believes in multilateralism as the only lasting means to achieve consensus in the international sphere, and to build harmony where there is only war and conflict," the president said.
It is proud of the multilateral organisms in Latin America, such as the Southern Common Market, the South American Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, she added.
Rousseff also highlighted the significance of South-South ties, relationships within the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), bloc of emerging economies, and with African countries.
Referring to the possibility of military intervention in Syria, Rousseff said Brazil only supports actions based on multilateral consensus.
She expressed support for negotiated solutions to political crisis and called for respecting the sovereignty of states.
"We only approve exceptional actions taken in order to preserve human lives and with the supports of the UN," she said, "We do not interfere in other countries, we do not put anybody's life at risk, whether they are Brazilians or citizens of other countries."
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