• Brazil recalled its ambassador to Buenos Aires after Argentine President Javier Milei insulted Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during a visit to Brazil.
• Milei's appearance at the nomination of right-wing presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro led to him calling Lula a "thief" and a "prisoner," urging people to turn their backs on what he described as the "socialist scum" of Latin America.
• The incident is considered the most serious diplomatic rift between Brazil and Argentina in decades, with Brazil being Argentina's biggest trading partner and Lula seeking re-election in October for the leftist Workers' Party.

Brazil recalled its ambassador to Buenos Aires for consultations on Sunday after Argentine President Javier Milei insulted Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during a visit to Brazil.

It also summoned Argentina's ambassador to demand an explanation.

The move followed Milei's appearance at the nomination of right-wing presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, where he called Lula a "thief" and a "prisoner" and urged people to turn their backs on what he described as the "socialist scum" of Latin America.

"There is no precedent for a foreign president, on national territory, to hurl insults and offences at the head of state, democratic institutions, including the judiciary, and the Brazilian people," Brazil's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Brazil, Latin America's largest economy, is Argentina's biggest trading partner.

Lula, 80, is seeking re-election in October for the leftist Workers' Party. His main challenger, Flávio Bolsonaro, 45, is the son of former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year prison sentence for an attempted coup under house arrest for health reasons.

During his trip, Milei had planned to visit Jair Bolsonaro, but Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes barred the meeting. In his speech, Milei referred to the judge as "bald trash."

Brazil's foreign ministry said Argentina's ambassador, Daniel Raimondi, had been summoned to express Brazil's outrage over Milei's remarks and to demand an explanation.

The incident is considered the most serious diplomatic rift between the two South American neighbours in decades.