A new episode of the diplomatic clash between Argentina and Brazil was protagonized today by the trans-Andean president, Javier Milei, after he reaffirmed in an interview with a local media outlet that his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is a “thief” and a “corrupt”, pointing out that the conviction against him in the framework of the Lava Jato operation was annulled due to procedural issues.
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“He was released due to a procedural error. He is not innocent”, stated the libertarian on the program La Cornisa, on the LN+ channel.
Additionally, the head of state defended the tone of his previous statements against the Brazilian leader and rejected the criticisms made against him from Brasilia.
“Aggressive is someone stealing. It is much milder to call a thief a thief than the act of stealing itself”, he said, after which he stated that the expressions he used against Lula “were spontaneous”.
Milei’s words come after last week the trans-Andean leader himself, during the launch of Flávio Bolsonaro’s presidential candidacy in Sao Paulo, launched harsh epithets against Lula, including “thief”, “corrupt”, “prisoner” and “socialist trash”.
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Everything broke out on July 25, when during his speech in Sao Paulo, besides harshly criticizing Lula, he described the Brazilian government as made up of “socialist thieves”. Likewise, he questioned the minister of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) Alexandre de Moraes, after stating that the magistrate had denied him a request to visit Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a sentence of 27 years and three months in prison for attempted coup d’état, among other charges.
Milei’s insults received a quick response: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil summoned the Argentine ambassador in Brazil, Daniel Raimondi, and the Brazilian ambassador in Buenos Aires, Julio Bitelli, to provide explanations.
Lula responded to Milei days after the Argentine insulted him in his own country and in the middle of an electoral campaign. “You saw the clowning that the president of Argentina did here. I said nothing, because my relationship is that of a head of state. I will not engage in a word exchange with ‘that thing’.”
“I like the Argentine people,” clarified the leader of the leftist Workers’ Party (PT) and added: “I learned very early that I am neither better nor worse than anyone. I want to be on equal terms. And as long as I am president and alive, no one from outside will interfere in Brazilian elections.”
