Tuesday, May 19th 2026 - 01:42 UTC
The executive refers to the cabin crew member as “mono” (monkey) and makes gestures imitating a primate
Chilean executive Germán Naranjo Maldini has been held since Friday 15 May at the Guarulhos prison on the outskirts of São Paulo, charged with racial slur after directing racist and homophobic insults at a flight attendant of the airline Latam during a flight between São Paulo and Frankfurt on 10 May. The Chilean fishing company Landes, where he served as commercial manager, formally and preventively removed the executive from his position following the circulation over the weekend of a video showing the verbal attacks.
In the footage, which quickly went viral, Naranjo is seen standing in the cabin berating the flight attendant with racist remarks directed at his Brazilian origin and skin color, alongside homophobic comments. The executive refers to the cabin crew member as “mono” (monkey) and makes gestures imitating a primate, in an episode reminiscent of the case of Argentine lawyer Agostina Páez, detained in Rio de Janeiro in January for analogous conduct at a bar in Ipanema. Following a formal complaint by Latam Brazil, Naranjo was detained five days after the incident when he passed through Guarulhos airport on a subsequent layover.
