The President of Uruguay may have accidentally sparked a diplomatic row after being overheard describing Argentine leader Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner as "an old hag."
Jose Mujica was talking to an official when a microphone picked up his indiscretion and broadcast it to the rest of the news conference. "This old hag is worse than the cross-eyed man," he said, referencing Cristina's husband Nestor Kirchner, who had a lazy eye and ruled Argentina from 2003-2007 before he died in 2010.
Mujica was overheard describing Kirchner as an 'old hag'
Ministers have rallied to support famously fierce Kirchner after the audio appeared on the El Observador website, with Buenos Aires describing the comments as "unacceptable."
The President of Uruguay may have accidentally sparked a diplomatic row
Argentine foreign minister Hector Timerman also weighed in, saying the comments were "denigrating," and offended the memory of the deceased.
Recently, it's usually been Kirchner provoking ire. Earlier in March, she angered Falkland Islanders after describing them as "illegal squatters"
In the wake of a referendum in which all but three of the islanders voted to remain British, she said the vote was as if "a bunch of squatters were to vote on whether or not to keep occupying a building illegally".
Cristina's late husband
Speaking on Tuesday, Kirchner mocked the popular vote, insisting the result changed nothing from a legal perspective.
Of the Falkland Island's approximate 1,650 eligible voters, 92% turned out to vote of which 99.8% voted to remain British.
David Cameron said the result should "send a clear message" to Argentina.
He added: "It is the clearest possible result there could be."