‘Idiot Dinosaur’: Argentina’s Javier Milei Blasts Lula in Pre-Brazil Trip Rant

Argentine President Javier Milei published a screed against an unnamed “perfect idiot dinosaur” on social media on Tuesday in which he once again referred to Brazilian President Lula da Silva as a “communist” and “corrupt.”

Lula, a hardline socialist who has maintained close ties with the world’s remaining communist powers, was convicted on multiple appeals of corrupt acts during his first two terms as president, including misusing public funds to purchase a luxury beachfront property. Milei has repeatedly highlighted these facts as reason to keep a distance from his administration, prompting Lula to demand an apology that has yet to arrive.

Milei repeated the offending statements just days before he is scheduled to make his first trip to Brazil since being inaugurated president of Argentina. The libertarian populist is expected to attend the Brazilian edition of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and potentially meet with Lula’s predecessor, conservative former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, but is pointedly not scheduling any encounter with Lula.

Milei titled his post on the social media site Twitter “the perfect idiot dinosaur” but, contrary to some headlines on the feud, did not directly call Lula an “idiot dinosaur.” The post did not specify if Milei was describing anyone in particular with the insults or arguing with a hypothetical leftist.

The post began by condemning those who took offense at Milei questioning the legitimacy of a bizarre incident in Bolivia last week in which a senior military leader seized control of the area in front of the presidential palace. Socialist President Luis Arce described the incident as a failed “coup d’etat,” but many in Bolivia – including socialist ex-President Evo Morales – have questioned if the incident was in fact a threat to Arce’s administration.

“The fraud orchestrated in Bolivia is known and the perfect idiot, instead of accepting his mistake, criticizes me for making his stupidity visible,” Milei wrote.

On Lula, Milei accused “the idiot” of complaining that Milei accurated described Lula as a “communist.”

“After Lula’s aggressions (especially his strong interference in the electoral campaign and solid support for the dirtiest campaign in history) he [the idiot] complains because I responded with the truth (he has been in prison for corruption and is a communist),” Milei wrote.

“If we had done things the way this great idiot dinosaur said to, LLA [Milei’s political party, Liberty Advances] would have lost,” Milei concluded. “They are part of the argentine failure.”

Milei’s questioning of the situation in Bolivia prompted the already hostile Bolivian government to summon the Argentine ambassador in protest, although Foreign Minister Diana Mondino expressed concern for the stability of the country prior to Milei’s comments.

In Brazil, Milei’s upcoming visit has raised eyebrows as he appears to have chosen attending CPAC over a meeting of the regional trade bloc Mercosur, where Lula is expected to participate. Mercosur consists of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Anonymous sources told local Argentine media that Lula’s presence at the Mercosur summit was “fundamental” to Milei’s choice not to attend.

As Milei alluded to, Lula openly opposed his presidential campaign in 2023. In August, Lula stated that Milei’s victory in the neighboring country “could imply a regression of over 40 years in Latin America” – presumably of the advance of socialism in the region – and described Milei as “worse than Bolsonaro.”

Milei himself accused Lula of secretly aiding the campaign of his rival, former Economics Minister Sergio Massa.

“They [the Massa campaign] contracted, with the assistance of Lula, a group of Brazilians who dedicate themselves to running a negative campaign to smear me all day,” Milei told Peruvian novelist and journalist Jaime Bayly in November. In that same interview, Milei again referred to Lula as a “communist” and “corrupt” and insisted he would not meet with the Brazilian president.

Milei similarly suggested he would not maintain relations with Lula in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson in September, in which he compared Lula with other communist and authoritarian leaders.

“Not only would I not do business with China, I won’t do business with any communist,” Milei told Carlson. “I am a defender of freedom, peace, and democracy. Communists have no place there. The Chinese have no place there. [Russian strongman Vladimir] Putin has no place there. Let’s go further: [socialist Brazilian President] Lula [da Silva] has no place there.”

Lula has repeatedly, personally and through surrogates, demanded an apology from Milei. Most recently, he told the Brazilian outlet UOL in June that he was still holding out for an apology before speaking to the Argentine president.

“I did not speak to the President of Argentina because I think he should apologize to Brazil and to me. He said a lot of nonsense. I just want him to apologize,” Lula said. “I love Argentina. It is a country I like very much. It is a very important country for Brazil, and Brazil is very important for Argentina.”

Manuel Adorni, Milei’s presidential spokesman, responded to the interview by affirming that Milei “did not say anything he should apologize for.”

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