Brazil downgrades diplomatic ties with Argentina after the 'Argentine Trump' provokes with 'Lula is a thief'

[Financial News] Diplomatic relations between Argentina and Brazil are deteriorating after Argentine President Javier Milei called Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva a "thief." The far-right Milei has repeatedly made blunt remarks against Brazil's current government, which holds the opposite political stance, saying he hoped "Brazil would turn blue." Blue is the color symbolizing the blue tide, or the wave of right-wing rule.
According to Argentina's daily La Nación on the 5th (local time), Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Argentine ambassador to Brazil the previous day, delivered a formal protest letter, and decided to downgrade diplomatic relations with Argentina from ambassadorial level to chargé d'affaires level. As a result, the return to Buenos Aires of Ambassador Julio Bitelli, who had recently been recalled home, has also been postponed indefinitely.
A Brazilian government official told La Nación that "we had exercised great patience and refrained from responding, but repeated insults directed at President Lula made this step unavoidable." La Nación described Brazil's move as "an unprecedented decision in the diplomatic history of the two countries since Argentina's democratization in 1983."
Argentina's Foreign Ministry expressed regret over Brazil's decision to downgrade ties, saying, "We have never responded to political differences with institutional measures." However, diplomatic sources said Argentina is also expected to downgrade relations in a similar way after some time in order to bring ties between the key allies in MERCOSUR, the Southern Common Market, to "the same level."
[email protected] Reporter Hong Chae-wan Reporter