Paraguay, under the stewardship of González Macchi, has been an awkward partner. Even so, the latest outburst from Paraguayan justice minister José Burro was especially intriguing as it came in response to what seemed like a pretty innocuous remark by Brazil's ambassador.
Burro lashed out at its two giant Mercosur trading partners after Brazil's ambassador to Asunción , Augusto de Castro Neves, commented that his country would be willing to invest in Paraguay provided that legal safeguards were in place and the country strengthened its political and judicial institutions.
'Granted, we've got to talk about our problems and admit our mistakes, but I'm not going to allow any curepi or bandeirante to come and lecture me on how to run things, the bunch of scoundrels,' Burro told reporters.
'Curepi' is a derogatory term for Argentine in Guaraní, Paraguay's indigenous language, while 'Bandeirante' is Portuguese for pioneer, used here to denote all Brazilians. The Bandeirantes were marauding bands of early Portuguese explorers, who went west to capture Indians and look for precious metals.
Buenos Aires reacted by recalling its ambassador and demanding an official explanation for the insults. Argentine foreign minister Rafael Bielsa said that he had little option but to recall envoy Felix Alberto Cordoba Moyano from Asunción in the absence of 'any clarification' of Burro's statements by the Paraguayan government.
The only comment on Burro's remark came from the foreign ministry, which rushed out a communiqué the next day explaining that Burro's comments were 'his exclusive and personal responsibility' and 'do not reflect the sentiments of all Paraguayans' toward the neighbouring countries.
Relations between Paraguay and Argentina were strained last October when Paraguay, incensed at the decision by Argentina to close its borders to Paraguayan agricultural products due to a suspected (later confirmed) outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the northeast of the country, petulantly closed its own borders. Foreign minister Antonio Moreno Ruffinelli denounced the Argentine move as an affront, which would seriously damage bilateral relations.
Such remarks have not, however, been the exclusive preserve of Paraguay. In June last year, Uruguayan president Jorge Batlle, seeing his country slip into financial crisis as the result of Argentina's plight, branded Argentines 'a bunch of thieves'.
If these diplomatic blunders serve to show anything, it is that the minnows in big economic trading blocs like Mercosur, who often complain of being exploited by their larger partners, feel the need to punch above their weight in order to get noticed. The fact that Burro's remarks failed to elicit a response from Brazil tells its own story.
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