Argentina ties reduced as long as Milei 'attacks' persist – Brazil FM source

Brazil's diplomatic relations with Argentina will remain downgraded as long as President Javier Milei's "attacks" persist, a source at the Foreign Ministry told AFP on Wednesday.

"We have decided to downgrade the relationship. This decision remains in effect as long as Javier Milei's attacks on Brazilian democratic institutions persist," the source said.

Brazil has downgraded its mission to Buenos Aires to the level of charge d'affaires after repeated insults from Milei against President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Argentina's government on Tuesday said Brazil had asked its ambassador to leave Buenos Aires, but the foreign ministry source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said this was Argentina's decision. 

The diplomatic spat began when Milei attended an event launching the presidential bid of right-wing candidate Flávio Bolsonaro in São Paulo in July.

During the event, Milei called Brazil's incumbent leader a "convict" and a "thief" without explicitly naming Lula.

He also appeared to refer to Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes as "bald trash."

Milei doubled down in an interview broadcast Sunday on Argentine television.

"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 Sunday.

Lula, who was previously president from 2003-2010, 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, with the presiding judge also later ruled to have been biased.

Lula returned to the presidency in 2023.

– TIMES/AFP