Brazil summons Argentinian diplomat over Bolsonaro’s flight to US

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. The move threatens to further strain relations between Brazilian President Lula and his Argentinian counterpart, Milei. Brazil has summoned Argentina’s top diplomat in the country to answer questions about right-wing candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, who fled first to Argentina, then to the United States, after losing Sunday’s presidential election. On Thursday, Brazil’s Foreign Ministry called in Argentina’s charge d’affaires, Maria Emilia Cortes, sources inside the government told the news agency .

Argentina’s Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, however, has denied on social media that his government received a formal request for explanations regarding Bolsonaro’s decision to flee into Argentina late on Tuesday. The circumstances surrounding Bolsonaro’s departure threaten to further strain relations between Brazil’s recently re-elected President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his Argentinian counterpart, libertarian Javier Milei. After Sunday’s election, Bolsonaro was given a deadline to surrender his passports.

The Details

Officials ordered him to remain in the country as part of an ongoing legal case. He is part of an ongoing investigation into a money-laundering scheme, known as the Banco Master scandal. Investigators are probing a multimillion-dollar payment Bolsonaro received from Banco Master’s former head, Daniel Vorcaro, allegedly to finance a film about his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro.

The younger Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing and called the case politically motivated. A senator since 2019, Bolsonaro ran this year as the right-wing presidential candidate for his father’s political movement, the Liberal Party.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.