Brazil recalls ambassador after Argentine president criticizes Lula

BRASILIA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's Foreign Ministry on Sunday recalled its ambassador to Argentina, Julio Bitelli, for consultations on relations between the two countries.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira made the decision Sunday morning after consulting President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Argentine President Javier Milei attended the national convention of Brazil's Liberal Party in Sao Paulo on Saturday, where the party formally nominated Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, as its presidential candidate.

In his speech, Milei criticized Lula's government and protested a decision by Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes that blocked him from visiting the jailed former president.

Supreme Federal Court President Luiz Edson Fachin later rejected what he called Milei's "rude insults" against Moraes, saying the remarks violated diplomatic norms between countries.

Fachin said Brazil's judiciary is fully autonomous and that Moraes was performing his judicial duties in Brazil under the country's constitution and laws.

According to reports, Milei did not seek a meeting with Lula during his visit to Brazil, and Lula had no plan to receive him.

Bolsonaro was criminally charged over an alleged attempt to stage a coup after losing the 2022 presidential election. In September 2025, Brazil's Supreme Federal Court found him guilty of plotting a coup and sentenced him to 27 years and three months in prison. ■