Buenos Aires, Argentina – Brazil recalled its ambassador to Buenos Aires and summoned Argentina’s envoy Sunday after President Javier Milei traveled to São Paulo to endorse Flávio Bolsonaro’s presidential bid.

On his visit, Milei also insulted President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, prompting Brasilia to accuse him of interfering in Brazil’s internal affairs. 

The episode marks the most serious diplomatic crisis between South America’s two largest economies since Milei took office in December 2023.

On Saturday, Milei attended a political rally in São Paulo, where he referred to Lula as a “thief” and a “convict,” echoing the language used by jailed former President Jair Bolsonaro during the 2022 campaign. 

He also called Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes “bald trash.” De Moraes has become one of the main targets of Bolsonaro’s supporters and recently barred Milei from visiting the former Brazilian president, who is serving a 27-year prison sentence after being convicted of plotting a coup to prevent Lula from taking office following the 2022 election.

In an official statement, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said Milei’s remarks against President Lula and the Brazilian judiciary “represent an unacceptable interference” and constitute an offense “against Brazil’s democratic institutions and the Brazilian people.”

He added that there were “no precedents” for a foreign president using Brazilian territory to direct insults against the country’s head of state, democratic institutions and people, describing the episode as particularly regrettable given the 203-year relationship between the two countries and Brazil’s position as Argentina’s main trading partner.

Former Argentine ambassador Ricardo Lagorio, who previously served in Russia and at the United Nations, described the episode as historic.

“The insults, the disqualifications, all of that is incompatible with the conduct expected from a head of state referring to another head of state while visiting their country. I do not understand it. I have never seen anything like it,” he told Argentina Reports.

Lagorio, who served more than four decades as a professional diplomat, also warned that Brazil’s decision to recall Ambassador Julio Bitelli while simultaneously summoning Argentina’s ambassador in Brasília represented an extraordinary diplomatic signal.

“This is a very strong warning. In football, I would call it two very strong yellow cards. It has never happened in the bilateral relationship with Brazil, at least during the democratic era. It is worrying that this is beginning to be treated as something normal.”

A relationship under growing strain

This episode is the latest sign of the deteriorating relationship between the Argentine and Brazilian leaders, which began during Argentina’s 2023 presidential campaign when Lula met with and indirectly endorsed Milei’s rival, then-Economy Minister Sergio Massa.

After taking office, Milei reshaped Argentina’s foreign policy around a sharp ideological realignment. His administration distanced itself from the regional integration agenda traditionally promoted through Mercosur and rejected Argentina’s participation in the BRICS economic alliance which Brazil is a founding member of, arguing that foreign policy should be based on a closer alignment with the United States and Israel.

Since then, Lula and Milei have repeatedly exchanged public criticism despite bilateral diplomatic and commercial relations continuing to function.

But Saturday’s speech in São Paulo nevertheless marked a turning point.

During his address at the Liberal Party rally, Milei portrayed Argentina as an example for other countries to follow and said his administration had a mission to “warn other nations so they can change course in time.” He accused Lula of representing the same “socialist model” that, according to him, had led Argentina into crisis.

“Kirchnerism, Argentina’s version of the convict, had devoured almost every available resource,” Milei said before arguing that “Brazil is heading toward a debt crisis because Lula failed to implement the fiscal adjustment the country required.”

The Argentine president also described the São Paulo Forum, founded by Lula and former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, as “a key transnational network for spreading communism across the continent” and urged Brazilians to support Flávio Bolsonaro’s candidacy.

“Flávio Bolsonaro is the person who today can stop Lula and lead a real change,” he said.

Milei also described former President Jair Bolsonaro as “my friend, unjustly imprisoned.”

Brazil’s election and concerns over foreign interference

The dispute comes just months before Brazil’s presidential election, as Lula’s government has become increasingly sensitive to what it considers foreign interference in domestic politics.

Foreign Minister Vieira underscored that the recent spat goes beyond bilateral diplomacy and reflects an increasingly ideological dispute with broader geopolitical implications. He warned that Brazil “will not be intimidated by spokespeople of the far right, neither domestic nor foreign,” highlighting the international dimension of Brazil’s October presidential election. 

Flávio Bolsonaro’s campaign has increasingly sought the support of international conservative and far-right leaders, meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in May and recently earning the endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Milei’s appearance alongside Flávio Bolsonaro therefore reinforced concerns within Lula’s government that Brazil’s election is becoming increasingly internationalized.

For ex-Ambassador Lagorio, the latest crisis reflects a shift in Argentina’s government towards “a foreign policy centered almost exclusively on aligning with two countries while turning its back on… immediate trading partners.”

“It also departs from the principles and traditions that have historically guided Argentine diplomacy, including multilateralism, regional integration and the defense of human rights.”

Whether the current diplomatic confrontation evolves into a prolonged political crisis will largely depend on the next steps taken by both governments. Despite the hostility between Milei and Lula, diplomatic channels, trade officials and business groups had so far managed to preserve normal bilateral relations. 

Brazil’s decision to recall its ambassador while summoning Argentina’s envoy, however, has elevated the dispute to an unprecedented level in the democratic relationship between Mercosur’s two largest members.

“This is a worrying accumulation of developments,” said Lagorio.

Featured image description: Split image of Javier Milei speaking at the World 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference (Left) and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva giving a speech (right)

Featured image credit: Photo of Milei by Gage Skidmore via Flickr. Photo of Lula via @LulaOficial on X.