Brazil has asked Argentina’s ambassador to leave the country, the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday amid a diplomatic spat sparked by Argentine President Javier Milei’s comments directed at Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.The Brazilian government also said it was downgrading its mission in Argentina to the level of charge d’affaires, the ministry said in a statement.The escalation in tensions comes two days after Milei doubled down on remarks about Lula.
A combination photograph shows Argentine President Javier Milei, left, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 21, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at an event in Brasilia on April 3 last year.
“He’s a thief, he’s corrupt, he’s been convicted of theft and corruption, he’s been in prison, so it’s true that we can call him a convict,” Milei said of Lula during an interview broadcast on Sunday on Argentine television.Milei made similar remarks during a speech in Brazil last month supporting Flavio Bolsonaro, Lula’s opponent in the upcoming presidential election.
Brazil recalled its ambassador to Argentina for consultations over Milei’s speech, but Buenos Aires later sought to downplay the spat, with presidential spokesman Adrian Ravier saying it was a matter of “ideological and political differences.”Lula, who was previously president from 2003 to 2010, spent 580 days in jail beginning in April 2018 after being convicted in the sprawling Operation Car Wash anti-corruption probe.He was freed after his conviction was overturned on procedural grounds.Lula returned to the presidency in 2023.
