Brazil asks Argentina to recall ambassador after Milei calls Lula a thief

Brazil has asked Argentina to recall its ambassador, the Foreign Ministry in Buenos Aires said Tuesday, after a diplomatic spat last week in which President Javier Milei called his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva a "thief."

"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 on TV channel LN+.

The Brazilian government said it was reducing "bilateral diplomatic representation to the level of Charge d'Affairs," Argentina's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In addition, Brazil recalled its ambassador to Argentina for consultations over Milei's speech, which also took aim at a Brazilian Supreme Court justice.

Buenos Aires later downplayed the diplomatic feud with its largest trade partner, with presidential spokesperson Adrian Ravier saying it was a matter of "ideological and political differences."

Asked on Sunday why he had such aggressiveness towards Lula, Milei explained, "Don't you think it's aggressive when someone steals from you? Calling a thief a 'thief' is far less serious than the act of stealing itself."

"They released him (Lula) because of an administrative error, not because he's innocent. Therefore, he's a thief and a corrupt official," the Argentine leader insisted.

The libertarian Milei made similar remarks during a speech in Brazil last weekend supporting Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro and Lula's right-wing opponent in the upcoming presidential election.

Flávio Bolsonaro has the full endorsement of Milei as well as support from members of US President Donald Trump's administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.