Karina Bolanos speaks to the media after a meeting at the presidential house in San Jose in this 2011 file photo. (REUTERS)

SAN JOSE - Costa Rica said on Tuesday it had dismissed a junior-level minister after she appeared in a video posted online wearing only her underwear and delivering flirtatious messages.

Deputy Minister for Youth Karina Bolanos lost her job after a video showed her lying in bed, pointing at her breasts and inviting a man she refers to as “little one” to join her.

Bolanos told cable TV network CNN en Espanol the video was made years ago and was put onto the Internet by a computer engineer who stole it and was trying to extort her. Uploaded onto YouTube over the weekend, the clip quickly went viral.

Costa Rica’s Ministry of Culture and Youth said in a statement on Tuesday the video and related legal issues made her position untenable.

The incident is an embarrassment to President Laura Chinchilla, whose Cabinet has suffered a string of resignations since she took power two years ago.

Local media said she declined to comment on the Bolanos scandal on Tuesday.

“I will not address the issue. Any more questions?”, newspaper La Nacion reported her saying after a public event.