President Jair Bolsonaro waded into another international row over sovereignty on Wednesday, this time accusing UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet of meddling in Brazil's internal affairs after she raised concerns over a spike in killings by police officers.
Fresh from a spat with French President Emmanuel Macron over his management of wildfires raging in the Amazon, Bolsonaro said Bachelet was interfering in Brazil's internal affairs by "attacking our courageous civil police and military."
It might be police action, but what I want to highlight is there is an increase from 12 to 17 per cent compared to the same period last year."
Bachelet "is saying that Brazil is losing democratic space, but forgets that her country would be a new Cuba if it wasn't for those who had the courage curb the left, including her father -- a communist brigadier general -- in 1973."
In her news conference, Bachelet said that since 2012, "Brazil has been one of the five countries in the world with the highest number of killings of human rights defenders."
Bolsonaro reacted furiously, accusing Macron of having a "colonialist mentality."