11 Jun 2021
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro compared his Argentine counterpart, socialist Alberto Fernández, to Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and laughed at him in response to Fernández declaring his country’s citizens superior to Brazilians because the latter “came from the jungle.”
Fernández made the remark, which also derisively referred to Mexicans as “Indians,” during a press conference with Spanish President Pedro Sánchez, also a socialist. After a wave of condemnations from officials in the two countries he mentioned as well as politicians and members of the indigenous community at home, Fernández apologized, claiming he was merely attempting to celebrate his country’s “diversity.”