Argentine President Calls Brazilian President 'Thief and Corrupt' in Escalating Feud

Argentine President Javier Milei has openly launched harsh criticism against Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, calling him a ‘thief’ and ‘corrupt’. The criticism follows a feud from last week, when Milei sparked a diplomatic dispute by calling Lula da Silva a criminal. ‘He is a thief, he is corrupt, he was convicted of theft and corruption, he was imprisoned, so it is correct to call him a convict,’ Milei said of Lula da Silva in an interview with television channel LN+ on Sunday (2/8), as reported by AFP on Monday (3/8/2026). Milei made similar criticisms during a speech in Brazil last weekend, in support of Flavio Bolsonaro, Lula da Silva’s political rival in Brazil’s presidential election next October. As a result of the criticism, Brazilian authorities recalled their Ambassador to Argentina for consultations regarding Milei’s speech. Authorities in Buenos Aires subsequently attempted to ease tensions with Brasilia, its largest trading partner. Argentine presidential spokesman Adrian Ravier stated that the matter was one of ‘ideological and political differences’. When asked on Sunday (2/8) why he was being so aggressive towards Lula da Silva, Milei replied: ‘Don’t you think that stealing from someone is aggressive? Calling someone a ’thief’ is far less impactful than the act of theft itself.’ ‘They released him (Lula da Silva) due to an administrative error, not because he was innocent. Therefore, he is a thief and a corrupt official,’ the Argentine President asserted. ‘I am doing this because I am a fighter for the values of freedom,’ he added. Lula da Silva, who previously served as President of Brazil for two terms from 2003 to 2010, spent 580 days in prison from April 2018 after being found guilty in several corruption cases. He was released after his conviction was annulled on procedural grounds, as the judge who presided over the trial was later deemed not impartial.