BUENOS AIRES: Argentina's President Javier Milei renewed his war of words against leftist Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday, after sparking a diplomatic spat last week by calling him a criminal.
"He's a thief, he's corrupt, he's been convicted of theft and corruption, he's been in prison, so it's true that we can call him a convict," Milei said of Lula during an interview on LN+.
The libertarian Argentine leader made similar remarks during a speech in Brazil last weekend supporting Flavio Bolsonaro, Lula's right-wing opponent in the upcoming presidential election.
Brazil recalled its ambassador to Argentina for consultations over Milei's speech, which also took aim at a Brazilian Supreme Court justice.
Buenos Aires later sought to play down the spat with its largest trade partner, with presidential spokesperson Adrian Ravier saying it was a matter of "ideological and political differences."
Asked on Sunday why he had such aggressiveness towards Lula, Milei retorted: "Don't you think it's aggressive when someone steals from you? Calling a thief a 'thief' is far less serious than the act of stealing itself."
"They released him (Lula) because of an administrative error, not because he's innocent. Therefore, he's a thief and a corrupt official," the Argentine leader insisted.
"I'm doing this because I'm a champion of the ideals of freedom," he added.
Lula, who was previously president from 2003-2010, spent 580 days in jail beginning in April 2018 after being convicted in the sprawling Operation Car Wash anti-corruption probe.
He was freed after his conviction was overturned on procedural grounds, with the presiding judge also later ruled to have been biased.