MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina recalls ambassador from Paraguay

Argentina recalled its ambassador from Paraguay and is demanding an official explanation of remarks by a Paraguayan official characterizing Argentines and Brazilians as “scoundrels,” diplomatic sources

Those moves represent the first response of President Nestor Kirchner's government to the comments made by Paraguayan Justice Minister Jose Burro, which were published Wednesday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, officials here said that Argentine Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa decided to recall envoy Felix Alberto Cordoba Moyano from Asuncion in the absence of "any clarification" of Burro's statements by the Paraguayan government.

Bielsa also "personally instructed" his top official for Latin American policy, Eduardo Sguiglia, to summon Paraguayan Ambassador Horacio Alberto Nogues Zubizarreta and formally request "the appropriate explanations," the sources added.

Burro made the remarks against the two neighboring countries Tuesday after Brazil's ambassador to Asuncion, Augusto de Castro Neves, said his country was willing to invest in Paraguay as long as legal safeguards were in place and the country strengthened its political institutions.

"Granted, we've got to talk about our problems and admit our mistakes, but I'm not going to allow any curepi or bandeirante to come lecture me on how to run things, the bunch of scoundrels," Burro said in response to questions from reporters.

"Curepi" is a term for Argentine in Paraguay's indigenous language, Guarani, which is spoken more or less fluently by most citizens, including non-Indians. "Bandeirante," meanwhile, is Portuguese for pioneer, referring to the early European explorers of Brazil, and is used here pejoratively to denote all Brazilians.

Paraguay's Foreign Ministry issued a communiqué Wednesday saying that Burro's comments were "his exclusive and personal responsibility" and "do not reflect Paraguayans' sentiments" toward the neighbouring countries.