Argentinian President Javier Milei's Remarks Lead to Diplomatic Fallout with Brazil

Sao Paulo. Brazil has recalled its ambassador to Argentina after Argentinian President Javier Milei used the terms 'thief' and 'guilty' for his counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during a visit to Brazil.

Milei was participating in the inauguration of the election campaign of presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to be held in October.

Although he did not explicitly name Lula, he made remarks calling him 'thief' and 'criminal'. He was referring to Lula's imprisonment on corruption charges. These corruption convictions were later overturned by the court, and Lula was re-elected president in 2022.

Milei is considered a political ally of Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently in jail.

Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to more than 27 years in prison for allegedly conspiring to stage a military coup to retain power after losing the 2022 election to Lula. He is currently under house arrest. After being declared ineligible to contest elections, he nominated his son Flavio as the presidential candidate for his right-wing Liberal Party.

Leftist leader Lula is currently leading in opinion polls. However, it is reported that more than 10 percent of voters have not yet made up their minds.

At the Sao Paulo event, Milei, standing alongside Flavio Bolsonaro, claimed that Flavio is the only candidate who can 'stop Lula'.

In addition, he also made insulting remarks about Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, calling him 'bald dirt', although he did not directly name him.

Moraes presided over the trial against Jair Bolsonaro. Earlier this month, he rejected Milei's request for permission to visit Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest.

Brazilian diplomats have expressed strong dissatisfaction with Milei's remarks. Speaking to AFP news agency, a diplomatic source said that Milei had 'insulted two branches of government, the Brazilian people, and Brazilian democracy'.

President Lula, while not directly mentioning Milei's speech at an event on Sunday, indirectly responded by saying, 'We do not accept anyone interfering in matters that do not concern them in Brazil.'

This controversy is seen as a new tension in the relationship between the two South American neighboring countries. Argentina and Brazil are each other's largest trading partners.