Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Sunday that it had recalled its ambassador to Argentina after President Javier Milei directed insults at Brazilian officials during a visit to the country.
The move came a day after Milei appeared in São Paulo at an event confirming Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, as his party’s presidential candidate. During his remarks at Saturday’s event, Milei labeled Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva a thief and a criminal, among other insults.
He also referred to Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes as garbage, after the justice blocked Milei from visiting Jair Bolsonaro, who remains under house arrest serving a 27-year sentence for his role in a coup attempt.
Supreme Federal Court President Edson Fachin said Milei’s remarks amounted to a disrespectful reference toward a justice of the country’s highest court, made while standing on Brazilian soil. A spokesperson for Brazil’s foreign ministry said Ambassador Julio Bitelli had been recalled for consultations in response to the comments.
Read more about this topic: Milei calls Brazil’s Supreme Court justice “trash” for blocking his visit to Jair Bolsonaro. He’s now backing the son’s bid to succeed Lula, who he calls “thief” (with video)
Former Argentine President Alberto Fernández posted a video Sunday criticizing Milei’s conduct, describing him as having gone to Brazil shouting like a madman while demanding access to a jailed coup plotter, and calling it unforgivable to insult the leader of a neighboring nation that also happens to be Argentina’s top trading partner.
Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof, seen as a potential candidate in next year’s general elections, said on social media that he had reached out to Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira on Sunday to make clear that Milei does not speak for the Argentine people.
Kicillof said he watched with deep shame as Milei insulted the Brazilian government, its president and the country as a whole, and stressed that the province of Buenos Aires remains committed to regional integration and respect among neighboring nations. He warned that Milei’s provocations risk jeopardizing investment, exports and thousands of jobs, arguing the Argentine leader was acting on behalf of a preferred candidate at the urging of the Trump administration.
Lula himself has not directly addressed Milei’s comments, though in an opinion piece published Sunday in The Washington Post, in which he criticized U.S. tariffs against Brazil as a strategic mistake, he wrote that Brazil’s future would be decided only by Brazilians, free of outside interference or subservience.
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The remarks come a day after Brazil’s Foreign Ministry denied visas to two U.S. State Department officials who had planned to travel to the country next week, without offering a public explanation.
Lula is running for reelection against Bolsonaro, whose family maintains close ties to the Trump administration.
