Brazilian authorities summoned Argentina's top envoy in the country on Friday to explain President Javier Milei's role in helping Flávio Bolsonaro flee Brazil following his election defeat. Argentina's chargé d'affaires was called in after it was revealed that Bolsonaro crossed into neighboring Argentina before boarding a US-bound flight, according to a Brazilian diplomat who asked not to be identified discussing a private meeting.
The defeated candidate crossed the border late Tuesday after a Brazilian judge ordered him to surrender his passports, deeming him a flight risk. Bolsonaro faces multiple criminal investigations in Brazil, including a multimillion-dollar money laundering probe. The right-wing Bolsonaro was upset by leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in last Sunday's runoff, triggering his decision to seek refuge in Miami.
Disputing part of the Brazilian diplomat's account, Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno insisted that his country's envoy in Brasilia, María Emilia Cortés, wasn't asked to clarify Milei's role. "There was no request for explanations," he wrote in a Friday post on X. His office did not respond to requests for comment about whether she was summoned.
Diplomatic relations between South America's two largest countries have been upended in recent years by deep ideological and political divides. Milei endorsed Bolsonaro and joined him at his July campaign launch in Brazil, where Milei called Lula a "thief." Brazil recalled its ambassador to Argentina for consultations after the remark. Days before the election, Brazil's foreign ministry accused Argentina of election meddling. Brazil may use the Group of 20 foreign ministers meeting in Atlanta to send an additional message to Argentina, according to another government official.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing