MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Milei backs Flávio Bolsonaro's candidacy, drawing a rebuke from Brazil's governing party

Milei said Brazil faces what he called a “Lula risk” and argued the country is heading toward a debt crisis for lack of fiscal adjustment

Argentine President Javier Milei on Saturday endorsed the presidential candidacy of Senator Flávio Bolsonaro at the Liberal Party (PL) National Convention in São Paulo, in a speech with sharp criticism of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva that drew rejection from Brazil's governing party and a response from the judiciary.

Speaking at the Pacaembú stadium, where the eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro was formally nominated for the October 4 elections, Milei said Brazil faces what he called a “Lula risk” and argued the country is heading toward a debt crisis for lack of fiscal adjustment. “Wasteful spending gets paid for, and let's hope the one who caused it pays for it by losing at the ballot box in October,” he said. He referred to the Brazilian president using the words “thief,” “convict,” and “totalitarian,” and used disparaging language about the region's left-wing parties.

The Argentine president also criticized the Supreme Federal Court (STF) ruling that prevented his visit to Jair Bolsonaro, sentenced to 27 years under house arrest for the attempted coup following the 2022 elections. The court had barred visits for political or electoral purposes until the end of the electoral process. Milei publicly insulted Justice Alexandre de Moraes and said his ally was “unjustly imprisoned.”

Reactions came quickly. Workers' Party president Edinho Silva said Milei had crossed an institutional line. “Brazil is a democratic and sovereign country. Our democracy allows for the debate of ideas in which conflicting positions can and should feed discussions about the country's future,” he said. STF President Luiz Edson Fachin reaffirmed the autonomy of Brazil's judiciary in the face of criticism voiced on national soil.

Before the event, Milei was received by São Paulo Governor Tarcísio de Freitas at the Palácio dos Bandeirantes, where he was awarded the Order of Ipiranga at the rank of Grand Cross, the state's highest distinction. The visit included no contact with Brazil's federal government. Those close to Lula view the explicit endorsement of his main rival as interference in the country's domestic politics.

The event came at a difficult stretch for the PL candidate. Polls released ahead of the convention place Lula ahead in runoff scenarios: Datafolha put him at 48% against Bolsonaro's 43%, while AtlasIntel measured 48.8% to 42.3%. The bilateral relationship was already distant: the two presidents have not held one-on-one meetings outside formal G20 and Mercosur settings.