The recurrence of cases of racist insults against the Brazilian football player Vinicius Junior, from Real Madrid, during games for the Spanish Championship, has opened a wound in the relationship between the governments of Brazil and Spain. The most recent case, which took place this Sunday (21), took on the air of a diplomatic issue.
One day after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) called for measures to "not allow fascism and racism to take over football stadiums" around the world, the Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, said that he is considering resorting to the principle of " extraterritoriality", which, according to him, allows triggering a provision of Brazilian law for "exceptional" cases of crimes committed against Brazilian citizens in a foreign country. The minister also stated that this is an "extreme" measure and that, for now, it would only be under analysis.
In Spain, given the worldwide repercussion that the case has had, almost all political parties, in addition to President Pedro Sánchez, have come forward to condemn the acts and say that the nation is not racist.
Translated by Cassy Dias