Javier Milei calls Brazilian president Lula a thief and convict

Brazil has recalled its ambassador to Argentina in protest over what it said were “insults” levelled by Argentine President Javier Milei against his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, during a visit to Brazil.

Milei was speaking at a rally in São Paulo to launch the campaign of Flávio Bolsonaro, who will be running against Lula in Brazil’s presidential election in October.

While Milei did not use Lula’s name, he railed against “the thief” and “the convict”, referring to the time Lula spent in jail before his corruption convictions were annulled and he successfully ran for president in 2022.

Milei is a political ally of Flávio Bolsonaro, son of jailed ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.

Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to more than 27 years in jail for plotting a coup aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to Lula.

He is currently under house arrest and, as he is barred from running for office, he has endorsed his son Flávio as the presidential candidate for his right-wing Liberal Party.

Lula, the veteran left-wing leader, is currently ahead in the polls, but more than 10% of voters say they are undecided.

Standing next to Flávio Bolsonaro at the rally in São Paulo on Saturday, President Milei said that the younger Bolsonaro was the only one who could “stop Lula”.

The Argentine leader also lashed out against Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, whom he called “bald trash”, although he did not name him directly.

Moraes presided over the trial of Jair Bolsonaro and earlier this month denied a request by Milei to visit the former Brazilian president while the latter is under house arrest in Brasilia.

Brazilian diplomats reacted angrily to Milei’s remarks. One source told AFP news agency that Milei had “insulted two branches of government, the Brazilian people and Brazilian democracy”.

President Lula did not refer to Milei’s speech directly at an event on Sunday, but told those attending that “in Brazil, we do not accept anyone sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong”.

The spat marks a low point in relations between the neighbouring countries, who are each other’s biggest trading partners.