Brazil has summoned Argentina’s most senior diplomat in Brasília to explain what role Buenos Aires played in the departure of Senator Flávio Bolsonaro for the United States, according to two Brazilian government sources cited by Reuters on Friday. The move deepens a diplomatic rift between the two South American neighbours that has been widening for months.
Brazil’s foreign ministry called in María Emilia Cortés, Argentina’s chargé d’affaires, on Thursday, the sources said. She was received by João Marcelo de Queiroz, director of the ministry’s South America Department. The summons is the latest flashpoint since Brazil downgraded relations with Argentina in August, after President Javier Milei repeatedly insulted his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Argentina has denied that any such summons took place. Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, responding to a media report of the move, wrote on X that “there was no request for explanation.” Brazil’s foreign ministry declined to comment.
Bolsonaro, the son of imprisoned former president Jair Bolsonaro, arrived in the United States on Wednesday morning, days after losing Sunday’s presidential runoff to Lula. Argentine authorities said Bolsonaro, his wife and their two daughters crossed a bridge into northern Argentina on Tuesday evening before boarding a chartered aircraft and flying to Miami via Ecuador.
In a letter released on Wednesday, Bolsonaro described himself as Brazil’s rightful “leader” and thanked Milei for his assistance, without giving further details. Milei had travelled to Brazil for the launch of Bolsonaro’s presidential campaign earlier this year and has repeatedly attacked Lula in public, calling him a “thief” and “corrupt” in a media interview. Those remarks prompted Brasília to recall its ambassador to Argentina permanently.
Bolsonaro’s departure also puts him at odds with Brazil’s Supreme Court. He left the country in defiance of a court order requiring him to hand over his passports and remain in Brazil while a money-laundering investigation proceeds, an inquiry in which he denies any wrongdoing. Bolsonaro has said he is the victim of judicial persecution.
Note on sourcing: the reported summons rests on two unnamed Brazilian government sources and is disputed by Argentina, while Brazil’s foreign ministry has declined to comment, so the diplomatic exchange itself remains unconfirmed by either government on the record.
Sources: Reuters, “Brazil summons Argentine diplomat over role in Bolsonaro’s flight to US, sources say”, https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-summons-argentine-diplomat-over-role-bolsonaros-flight-us-sources-say-2026-10-30/
