The diplomatic crisis between Argentina and Brazil continued to escalate after the Argentine president, Javier Milei, launched harsh criticisms against his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, during a political event in Sao Paulo alongside opposition senator Flávio Bolsonaro. Far from retracting or moderating his tone, the Argentine leader reaffirmed his statements and claimed that the neighboring country financed an alleged “anti-Argentine campaign.”
According to information from La Nación, sources from the Argentine government flatly ruled out the possibility of backtracking or issuing a formal retraction.
“There will be no apology,” a high-ranking official source reportedly stated categorically, while other members of the libertarian administration speculate that the diplomatic dispute and the trade relationship will remain on separate tracks.
In this scenario of maximum tension, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira urgently called a meeting at the Itamaraty Palace with the ambassador in Buenos Aires, Julio Bitelli, who left for Brasilia with no definite return date.
Likewise, the Brazilian foreign ministry issued a statement emphasizing that “there is no precedent of a foreign president who, on national territory, has accumulated aggressions and offenses against the head of state, democratic institutions, including the Judiciary, and the People,” also lamenting that the episode involves its main trading partner with 203 years of cooperation.
Amid this escalation that has put Argentina’s relationship with its main Mercosur partner on the ropes, the future of diplomatic representations and the steps to follow will be defined after diplomatic meetings organized in the Brazilian capital.
In addition to the above, Brazil’s Finance Minister, Dario Durigan, called the Argentine president, Javier Milei, a “clown” and claimed that that country’s economy is worse than Brazil’s, amid the bilateral crisis over Milei’s attacks on his counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
“The clown of the Argentine president came to Brazil and spoke about Brazil, when Argentina’s country risk is much higher, public debt is much higher, and inflation is much higher,” Durigan said Monday in an interview with the Radio Jornal de Pernambuco station, noted the Brazilian newspaper O Globo.
The minister advocated “not following the lead of those people who say this will turn into an apocalypse.”
Brazil and Argentina have become embroiled in a diplomatic crisis following Milei’s statements against Lula and the Brazilian Supreme Court on Saturday in São Paulo, where he participated in the proclamation ceremony of Flávio Bolsonaro, eldest son of the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, as a presidential candidate for the October elections.
The Argentine leader referred to Lula as a “prisoner” and “thief,” in a fiery and offensive speech in which he also accused him of squandering Brazil’s public money.
In this regard, he mentioned the existence of an alleged “Lula risk” in the financial market due to his social policies and openly supported Flávio Bolsonaro as the only candidate capable of “stopping the socialist trash” at the polls.
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Brazil responded diplomatically. It called its ambassador in Buenos Aires, Julio Bitelli, for consultations on Sunday and summoned the Argentine ambassador in Brasilia, Daniel Raimondi.
Nevertheless, Durigan emphasized that “not everything is resolved” in the Brazilian economy, the largest in Latin America, citing, for example, the high interest rates, currently at 14.25% annually.
However, the minister ruled out a recession for this year and reaffirmed forecasts indicating a 2% growth in Gross Domestic Product.
He also recalled that unemployment in the country is at its lowest levels in history, around 6%, with inflation under control (4.64% year-on-year) and record trade balances.
The episode adds to other conflicts of the libertarian government across the Andes with countries governed by the center-left or left, mostly with negative outcomes. The deepest break occurred with Spain.
The relationship broke down in May 2024, when Milei, at a Vox event in Madrid, referred to “the corrupt woman” in reference to Pedro Sánchez’s wife. Madrid called its ambassador, María Jesús Alonso Jiménez, for consultations, who did not return to Buenos Aires, and demanded apologies. Spain later appointed a new ambassador, Joaquín María de Arístegui Laborde, in November of that year, although dealings continued through institutional channels. Since then, according to La Nación, Milei has made six trips to Spain without contact with its government.
With Colombia, where leftist Gustavo Petro will govern until next August 7, the clash led to the expulsion of Argentine diplomats in March 2024, following Milei’s labeling of the Colombian president as a “terrorist” and “murderer.” Petro also withdrew his ambassador in Buenos Aires, Camilo Romero. Only in August 2025 did he appoint businessman José Roberto Acosta as the new representative, although the relationship remained distant. Milei recently celebrated the victory of De la Espriella, Petro’s ideological rival, and will attend his presidential oath.
There is also the diplomatic dispute with Venezuela. Confronted with the libertarian government, Nicolás Maduro expelled the entire Argentine delegation in July 2024, after Milei did not recognize his electoral victory. The embassy was managed by Brazil for months, but Argentina has not replaced its diplomats in Caracas.
Additionally, there were tensions with Iran, whose minimal Argentine delegation had to move overland to Azerbaijan in mid-2025, when the so-called Twelve Days War broke out. Argentina expelled the last Iranian officials remaining in Buenos Aires in April.
Finally, Mexico is added to that list, where Milei had a poor relationship with Andrés Manuel López Obrador, whom he called “ignorant” and from whom he received the label “fascist.” Currently, he maintains distance from his successor, Claudia Sheinbaum, although verbal clashes have not led to calls for consultations or expulsions.
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