President Jair Bolsonaro (no party) returned on Thursday (10) to respond to Alberto Fernández’s racist statement and compared Argentina’s leader to Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
This Wednesday, the Peronist declared, during a meeting with the Spanish Prime Minister, in Buenos Aires, that “the Mexicans came from the natives, the Brazilians from the jungle, and we [os argentinos], we arrived by boat. “They were boats that came from Europe,” he said, pointing to Pedro Sánchez.
Bolsonaro, who posted a photo on social media the same day he appeared alongside indigenous people accompanied by the word “JUNGLE!”, Said on Wednesday that for the Argentine president and Venezuelan dictator, “they do not have a vaccine “. The speech suggests that, for the Brazilian leader, Fernández and Maduro are hopeless.
“I remember that as soon as the [Hugo] Chavez is dead, Maduro took over [na Venezuela], and he used to say he was talking to the birds embodied in the figure of Chávez, “the Brazilian president told a group of supporters.” I think Maduro and Fernández don’t have a vaccine for them. “
Then, however, Bolsonaro said there was no problem between Brazil and the Argentine people. “I exchanged a message on WhatsApp today with the former president [Mauricio] Macri, from Argentina. There is no problem between us and the Argentine people. The rivalry with Argentina is only in football. “
The Argentine leader’s speech drew criticism in Brazil and Mexico, as well as reactions from the Argentine opposition.
Congressman Facundo Suárez Lastra, of the União Cívica Radical, said that “there is always a lower level for the president to descend the ladder of ridicule and shame.” “He offends the brotherly countries and appears to be ignorant. Neither professor nor scholar.”
Also from the UCR, a party that was part of the support base of former President Mauricio Macri, Karina Banfi asked Fernández to apologize for his ignorance and discrimination with indigenous peoples, with countries in the region and with all Argentines. “
After the repercussion of the statement, the Argentine president posted a message on Twitter in which he said that “our diversity is a source of pride”. “More than once it has been said that ‘Argentines get off boats’. In the first half of the 20th century, we welcomed over 5 million immigrants who lived with our indigenous peoples. Our diversity is a source. of pride. ” As a result, he added that he “did not want to offend anyone” and apologized “to anyone who felt offended or made invisible”.