Argentinian leader calls Brazilian president a 'thief' and a 'convict'

What the report says

BBC World News reports that Brazil has recalled its ambassador to Buenos Aires after Argentine President Javier Milei attacked Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during a political event in São Paulo. Milei spoke on Sunday at the launch rally for right-wing presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is expected to run in an October election.

According to the BBC, Milei did not name Lula directly but used terms including “thief” and “convict” while standing with Flávio Bolsonaro, whom he described as the person able to stop Lula. Brazilian diplomats said the remarks amounted to an insult to Brazil’s government, people and democratic system. Lula later responded that he would keep governing without outside interference and rejected foreign meddling in Brazil’s affairs.

AFP, cited by the BBC, reported that Brazil’s ambassador to Argentina, Julio Bitelli, was expected to return home between Sunday and Monday. Milei also targeted Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who handled Jair Bolsonaro’s conviction and had previously blocked Milei from visiting the former president while he was under house arrest in Brasília.

The dispute adds strain to relations between two of South America’s largest economies and reflects wider ideological tensions in the region. The BBC notes that Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced last year to more than 27 years in prison over an alleged coup plot after losing to Lula. Lula himself was jailed in 2018 in a corruption case, but his convictions were annulled by Brazil’s Supreme Court in 2021 before he narrowly defeated Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 presidential election.