Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin accused Argentine President Javier Milei of interfering in Brazil’s elections and internal affairs “in a gross manner,” calling his conduct “unacceptable.”
Alckmin’s remarks came after Milei insulted Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva while appearing at a political event in São Paulo on Saturday to support presidential candidate — and Lula’s main rival in the October 4 elections — Flávio Bolsonaro.
“It is unfortunate that the president of a neighboring, friendly country, and a fellow member of Mercosur, is doing a disservice to his own nation,” Alckmin said, according to Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo.
“A president should not get involved in another country’s election. On top of interfering in Brazil’s internal affairs, doing so in such a rude manner is unacceptable,” he added.
Alckmin noted that Brazil is Argentina’s largest trading partner and said Milei’s remarks were particularly regrettable at a time when Mercosur was enjoying positive momentum. He made the comments during a round of trade talks between Brazil and South Korea attended by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.
Alckmin is the highest-ranking Brazilian government official to respond publicly to Milei’s comments.
Lula, meanwhile, chose to brush them aside. Asked by reporters on Tuesday about Milei’s remarks, the Brazilian president replied with a laugh: “Who is that guy?”
Milei’s comments
Milei attended a national convention of Brazil’s Liberal Party on Saturday to support the presidential nomination of far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro.
During his speech, Milei called Lula a “thief” and a “totalitarian,” and said Flávio Bolsonaro was the only candidate capable of defeating him and saving Brazil from “socialism.” While Milei has made similar attacks before, it was the first time he did so while visiting Brazil.
He also criticized Lula’s economic policies, saying: “Profligacy, sooner or later, comes with a price, and let us hope the one who caused it pays for it by losing at the ballot box in October.”
Milei also referred to Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes as “bald garbage” for denying him permission to visit former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year prison sentence under house arrest in Brasília after being convicted of plotting a coup and the assassination of Lula, following his 2022 election.
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Diplomatic crisis deepens
Rather than soften his rhetoric, Milei continued sharing posts critical of Lula on X in the days that followed.
On Tuesday, Argentine presidential spokesperson Adrián Ravier downplayed the dispute, saying that “there have always been insults from both sides.”
“I believe this is a matter of ideological and political differences, but Argentina has never taken those differences into the diplomatic arena,” he said.
However, Brazil recalled its ambassador to Argentina, Julio Bitelli, in response to Milei’s remarks. Folha de S.Paulo reported that Brazil’s Foreign Ministry will decide whether to return Bitelli to Buenos Aires depending on how relations with the Milei administration develop.
Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported that local experts described the dispute as unprecedented in recent history.
Brazil’s Foreign Ministry also said in a statement that it has no record of a foreign president repeatedly insulting a Brazilian president, the country’s democratic institutions and the Brazilian people while on Brazilian soil.
