President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil threatened to damage the longstanding friendly ties between his country and neighboring Argentina in an interview on Wednesday, demanding an apology from Argentina President Javier Milei for the latter’s criticism of his corruption and socialist policies.
Lula was notably absent from Milei’s inauguration as president in December and has been vocally critical of the world’s first third-party libertarian president, who in turn had, prior to his election, condemned Lula as an authoritarian ruler akin to dictators Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia. Milei had suggested in an interview with journalist Tucker Carlson in September that he would not “do business” with “communists” such as Lula.
Milei also repeatedly referred to the Brazilian president as a “communist” and a “thief” – a reference to his multiple convictions on charges of corruption during his first two terms in office, and said he would not meet with Lula if given the chance.
“I didn’t talk to the president of Argentina because I think that he should apologize to Brazil and to me, he said a lot of nonsense, I just want him to apologize,” Lula said in an interview with the Brazilian news outlet UOL on Wednesday. Lula was referring to the leaders encountering each other at the G7 summit in Italy, where both Argentina and Brazil have stated that they “greeted” each other politely but did not speak to each other.
The G7 summit was a spirited affair for Milei, who received a warm greeting from the host of the event and fellow right-wing leader Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister of Italy.
Milei also warming embraced fellow Argentine Pope Francis, who he had previously referred to as an “imbecile.”
Speaking to UOL, Lula insisted that his personal distaste for Milei would not affect Brazil’s foreign policy. As the largest countries in Latin America and close neighbors, the bilateral relationship between Brazil and Argentina is of paramount importance for both countries.
“Argentina is a very important country for Brazil, and Brazil is very important for Argentina,” Lula said. “There is no president of the republic who can create a rift between Brazil and Argentina. The Argentine people and the Brazilian people are bigger than the presidents.”
Milei has not personally responded to Lula’s demand for an apology, except in sharing a video on social media of a commentator noting that Lula supported Milei’s opponent in the presidential race, leftist former Economics Minister Sergio Massa, whose boss former President Alberto Fernández had insulted Brazilians by saying they “came from the jungle.” Milei’s top spokesman, however, addressed the situation during his regular press briefing on Wednesday.
Presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni confirmed that Milei and Lula exchanged a brief greeting at the G7 summit and “did not speak” otherwise. He also responded to Lula’s demand for an apology.
“It is within his wishes [to want an apology],” Adorni said of Lula, “and we respect that, but the president [Milei] has not done anything that he needs to apologize for.”
Citing anonymous sources, the Argentine newspaper Clarín claimed that Milei’s preferred response to Lula would have been for his administration not to address the demand for an apology at all, as it was a needless “provocation.” An insider at the Pink House, Argentina’s presidential offices, claimed that Adorni commented on the matter because “he found out [about Lula’s comments] on the way to the press hall and had to improvise an elegant response, but the president gave an order not to respond to Lula.”
Milei posted about the feud on Twitter after the Clarín article was published.
File/Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during the inauguration of the Gentileza transportation terminal in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
Lula’s comments were the second time his administration publicly demanded an apology from Milei. In November, several members of his administration – though, notably, not Lula himself – insisted that Milei would have to apologize to Lula if he hoped to see him at the Argentine president’s inauguration.
“If it were me, I would only [call Milei] after he called to apologize,” Paulo Pimenta, Lula’s minister of the Social Communication Secretariat, said at the time. “He gratuitously offended President Lula and the gesture of calling to apologize is up to the president-elect.”
Foreign policy adviser Celso Amorim similarly told Brazilian media that Lula felt “personally offended” and Lula would not go to the inauguration as a result.
Lula did not attend Milei’s inauguration.
The Argentine president inspired Lula’s ire in several interviews where he mentioned the Brazilian president, in some cases unprompted. During an interview with the Peruvian journalist Jaime Bayly in November, Milei said he would not meet with Lula and referred to him as “a communist.” Asked if he thought Lula was corrupt, Milei said, “obviously, that’s why he was in prison.”
Lula was convicted multiple times of various corruption crimes following his second term in office, before his return to power in the 2022 presidential election. At their peak, Lula’s sentences totaled 25 years in prison for illicitly using public funds to buy himself a luxury beach house. Lula returned to power after the Brazilian Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF), the nation’s top court, overturned his convictions on vague procedural grounds. The court offered no evidence exonerating Lula of the crimes for which he was imprisoned.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), the court that manages political campaigns and is run by STF members, banned journalists and the campaign of then-President Jair Bolsonaro from mentioning the corruption sentences during the campaign or referring to Lula as a thief or corrupt.
Milei also criticized Lula in his interview with Carlson in September, though not directly asked about the Brazilian president.
“Not only would I not do business with China, I won’t do business with any communist,” Milei told Carlson. “I am a defender of freedom, peace, and democracy. Communists have no place there.”
“The Chinese have no place there. Putin has no place there. Let’s go further: Lula has no place there,” Milei said.