Brazil Recalls Ambassador After Milei Insults Lula and Supreme Court Judge

Ambassador recalled after Milei's São Paulo speech

Brazil's foreign ministry summoned Ambassador Julio Bitelli back to Brasília for consultations on Sunday, a move it attributed to "offensive statements" by Argentina's President Javier Milei. Bitelli is expected to return between Sunday and Monday. The recall, announced a day after Milei's scathing remarks at a political rally in São Paulo, signals acute discomfort in bilateral relations without breaking them entirely.

The rally was the convention of the Liberal Party that confirmed Senator Flávio Bolsonaro as its candidate for Brazil's October presidential election. Milei, a guest speaker, used the platform to attack President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Supreme Federal Court justice Alexandre de Moraes, who had previously barred him from visiting former president Jair Bolsonaro in house arrest.

Lula is a thief and a delinquent.

Milei referred to Lula as a "convict" and a "thief", accusing him of "spreading communism" throughout Latin America. Addressing the crowd, he said: "Don't let them steal your future." He then turned to the judiciary, calling Justice de Moraes "trash", translated by Brazilian media as "bald trash", because the judge denied Milei's attempt to meet Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence for a coup attempt.

The Argentine president also claimed that socialism was being "eradicated" in Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Ecuador, and expressed hope that Brazil would follow suit in October. "Other nations are awakening, but this ideology remains rooted in Brazil," he said, referring to Lula's government.

Brazil's judiciary and executive push back

The president of the Supreme Federal Court, Minister Edson Fachin, condemned the remarks, calling them "a disrespectful reference to a magistrate of the highest court in the country, made on Brazilian soil." Fachin stressed the comments were incompatible with the civility required between nations.

Lula did not directly respond to Milei. However, in an opinion piece published Sunday by The Washington Post, he wrote: "Brazil's destiny is determined only by Brazilians without external interference, without subservience." The article criticized U.S. tariffs on Brazil as a "strategic mistake". Separately, on Saturday Brazil's foreign ministry denied visas to two U.S. State Department officials who had planned to travel to the country, without giving an explanation.

The electoral scene

Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of the former president, will face Lula in the October election. Jair Bolsonaro remains under house arrest in Brasília for the 2022 coup attempt, unable to campaign. Milei's attendance at his son's nominating convention and his endorsement of the Bolsonaro family sharpened an already tense relationship between Brasília and Buenos Aires at a time when Lula's government is also sparring with Washington.