Brazil summons Argentine envoy after Milei insults Lula
Javier Milei and Flávio Bolsonaro
Reuters/Jean Carniel
Brazil’s Foreign Ministry summoned Argentina’s ambassador in Brasília, Daniel Raimondi, on Sunday (26) to convey the government’s “repudiation” and demand explanations over remarks by Argentine President Javier Milei at the Liberal Party (PL) national convention in São Paulo on Saturday (25).
At the event, which formally launched Senator Flávio Bolsonaro’s presidential candidacy, Milei called Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes “bald trash” and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva a “convict.”
Also on Sunday, the Foreign Ministry recalled Brazil’s ambassador in Buenos Aires, Julio Bitelli, for consultations. Both moves are diplomatic tools used to express displeasure and signal a deterioration in bilateral relations. As of press time, Bitelli was expected to arrive in Brazil by early Monday (27).
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“There is no precedent for a foreign president, while on Brazilian soil, to direct attacks and insults at the Head of State, democratic institutions, including the Judiciary, and the Brazilian people. It is especially regrettable that this shameful episode involves the president of a country with which Brazil has maintained 203 years of friendship and cooperation and which has Brazil as its main trading partner,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Diplomatic tensions
Speaking at the PL convention on Saturday, Milei called Lula a “thief,” a “convict” and “socialist trash.” He described Moraes as “bald trash” after the justice denied him permission to visit former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Justice Moraes is overseeing at the Supreme Court the case that resulted in Bolsonaro and his allies being convicted over an attempted coup.
“The bald trash did not allow me to visit my friend, who has been unjustly imprisoned, even though I know Lula repeatedly received foreign leaders while he was in prison, including the disastrous former Argentine President Alberto Fernández,” Milei said, also taking aim at his domestic political rival.
The first institutional response came from Brazil’s Judiciary. Later on Saturday, Supreme Court Chief Edson Fachin said Milei had referred disrespectfully to a member of the court and reaffirmed the independence of Brazil’s judicial system.
“This was a disrespectful reference to a justice of the country’s highest court, made on Brazilian soil, because of a judicial act carried out in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of the Federative Republic of Brazil. In reaffirming the full independence of Brazil’s Judiciary, the Supreme Court presidency deplores statements that are incompatible with the civility that should characterize relations between states,” Fachin said in a statement.
Also on Saturday, Workers’ Party (PT) national chair, Edinho Silva, said Milei “is not worthy of the office he holds” and that “it is unacceptable for a foreign head of state to come to our country and address its constitutional institutions in disrespectful terms.”
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Milei was one of the main speakers at the PL convention. Earlier on Saturday, the Argentine leader met São Paulo Governor Tarcísio de Freitas of the Republicans Party at a closed ceremony at the Bandeirantes Palace, the seat of the state government.
Milei was awarded the Order of Ipiranga, the highest honor granted by the São Paulo state government.
The PL convention was also marked by Flávio Bolsonaro’s political isolation and the absence of leaders from centrist parties. The presidential candidate has struggled to build alliances with those groups, particularly amid a series of crises that have affected his pre-campaign.
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The party held the convention without naming a vice-presidential candidate. Its priority remains bringing the Republicans Party into the ticket, although an all-PL slate is now also under consideration.
While the preference remains for a woman, Senator Astronauta Marcos Pontes (PL, São Paulo) has emerged in recent days as a possible running mate.
Running-mate talks
Valor has learned that Pontes met PL national chair, Valdemar Costa Neto, in São Paulo on Friday afternoon (24).
Contacted by Valor, Costa Neto did not confirm whether they had discussed the vice-presidential slot but said Pontes’s name “is excellent for anything.”
Valor also contacted Pontes directly and through his press office but received no response. The senator attended Saturday’s convention but did not speak.
Meanwhile, the announcement of a reconciliation between Flávio and former First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro fueled speculation that the former head of PL Women could join her stepson on the ticket. That prospect, however, is considered remote.
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An ally of the former first lady said a “family ticket” could be poorly received by voters because it might be seen as “a power project by a clan.”
Michelle participated in Saturday’s event only through a prerecorded video. In the message, she asked God to bless her stepson’s campaign and appealed to female voters for support, highlighting the work she carried out as head of PL’s women’s wing.
Former president message
During the convention, Flávio said he wants to honor his father and hopes Jair Bolsonaro will hand him the presidential sash in January if he wins the election.
The former president, who is under house arrest, appeared in an artificial intelligence-generated video because he is barred from making public statements.
In the recording, Bolsonaro urged supporters to “welcome with open arms” the person chosen to replace him.
