No Official Recognition From Buenos Aires
Argentina's government confirmed it will not congratulate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva following his runoff victory in Brazil last Sunday. Presidential spokesman Adrián Ravier told a Casa Rosada press conference that no official statement would be issued, responding to a question about whether the foreign ministry would recognize the electoral result. The announcement came 48 hours after voting closed.[S1][S2][S3][S4][S5][S6]
The stance leaves Argentina as the only South American nation without a formal acknowledgment of the victory by the Workers' Party leader. Ravier said the government had taken note of the outcome, recalled that in 2023, when Javier Milei was elected, the Brazilian president offered no personal greeting, and described the two leaders as holding genuine ideological differences while insisting Milei was not being hypocritical.[S1]
Asked about the consequences for bilateral ties, Ravier argued that for the president the well-being of both peoples, along with commerce and the relations that can be built, matters more than ideological disputes. He said the foreign minister had repeated this position many times, that Argentine diplomacy and trade continue, and that nothing should affect the country's work within Mercosur. He added that companies and individuals in both nations would keep trading and dealing with each other as usual.[S1]
A Relationship at Its Lowest Point in Decades
The diplomatic rupture follows a precise sequence. On July 26, Milei traveled to São Paulo for the launch of Flávio Bolsonaro's candidacy and called Lula a prisoner, a thief and a totalitarian, also attacking Supreme Court minister Alexandre de Moraes. That same day, Itamaraty summoned Argentine ambassador Daniel Raimondi for explanations and recalled its own ambassador in Buenos Aires, Julio Bitelli, for consultations.[S1]
After another day of insults from Milei, Brazil formalized on August 4 the downgrade of relations to the level of chargé d'affaires. The Brazilian embassy in Buenos Aires came under minister-counselor Eduardo Uziel, while the Argentine mission in Brasília passed to chargé d'affaires María Cortés after Raimondi returned home in the following weeks. On October 20, five days before the runoff, Milei wrote on X that he hoped Lula's last dirty campaign trick would not include stealing the election; Itamaraty called the remarks a new and unacceptable attempt at foreign interference in Brazil's democratic process.[S1]
On October 24, after the final televised debate, Milei labeled the Brazilian president a thief and a liar in capital letters, accusing his campaign team of spreading false data about Argentina. On runoff day, Milei used his social accounts to amplify a La Derecha Diario post accusing Lula of wanting to steal the election because voting hours were extended by two hours. Once the result was known, there was no mention, congratulation or official foreign ministry statement that night, a position that has held since.[S1]
Within the governing coalition, only provisional Senate president Bartolomé Abdala spoke out, saying in a social media message that the Brazilian people had chosen a president on a questioned democratic day and that, while many Argentines including himself wanted the ideas of liberty to prevail, he wished Brazil success. The allied PRO bloc issued a statement recognizing Lula's victory and congratulating him, and Mauricio Macri did the same in a personal capacity. Valdemar Costa Neto, president of Bolsonaro's PL party, circulated a letter recognizing the result proclaimed by the Superior Electoral Court while asking that the questions raised be properly clarified.[S1]
Bolsonaro Inquiry and Asylum Questions
Separately, Brazil's federal police opened an inquiry and contacted Argentine authorities to verify whether senator and former presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro crossed the border in Misiones to board a private aircraft, registration LV-JQW, at Puerto Iguazú bound for Fort Lauderdale airport in Florida. By midday Tuesday his whereabouts were unknown. Argentina's National Migration Directorate said it had no record of any legal entry into the country.[S1]
The migration agency said that amid media escalation over the aircraft's presence in Puerto Iguazú, authorities began checks on the plane and crew and found the company's documentation in order, with no flight plan filed that included the Bolsonaro family. Asked whether the government would grant political asylum to Flávio Bolsonaro, Ravier replied that no asylum request existed and there was nothing further to add.[S1]
