Brazil detains Spanish woman for racism, in latest high-profile arrest

Brazil’s federal police detained a Spanish citizen in Sao Paulo’s international Guarulhos airport for racism on Wednesday, the latest in a series of high-profile arrests of foreign tourists on similar grounds.

Brazil has some of the strictest anti-racism laws in Latin America. Insulting a person on the basis of race carries a penalty of imprisonment from two to five years and a fine.

The crew of a Latam airlines flight arriving from the northeastern city of Sao Luis called police, who arrested the Spanish national as she disembarked, after she allegedly made racially abusive remarks directed at the workers who unload the aircraft’s baggage, police said in a statement.

The airline company said that there was no justification for the aggression directed at its employees and condemned all forms of racism and discrimination.

In January, local media widely reported that police arrested Argentine citizen Agostina Paez in Rio after being filmed mimicking a monkey at a waiter at a nightclub. Video footage of the incident went viral.

Initially barred from leaving Brazil, Paez eventually returned to Argentina in April, where images showed her meeting with Senator Patricia Bullrich, a close ally of Argentina’s President Javier Milei.