Argentina’s president sent out this strange, offensive, and frankly racist, tweet
The only thing worse than mocking an accent heard in another country is doing it publicly, via Twitter, when you’re the president of Argentina, while you’re in that other country on a high-stakes diplomatic visit.
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner made a strange attempt at humor Wednesday morning when she took to Twitter during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Rather than chronicle the discussions, which were centered around the South American economy’s need for foreign investment, Kirchner instead made light of the situation by poking fun at the Chinese accent.
“Vinieron solo por el aloz y petloleo,” Kirchner wrote, replacing rs with ls in both instances. The English equivalent would look something like this: “Did they only come for lice and petloleum.” Here’s the full tweet, which, as you can see, has been eagerly retweeted and as of 12:30 p.m. still hadn’t been deleted:
Kirchner, to be fair, did follow up with a half-apology, which blamed “ridiculousness” and “absurdity” for the need for humor. “If not, it’s very, very toxic,” it said.
But what Kirchner seems to misunderstand is that her sense of humor is questionable at best. It was in poor taste for her to mock an Asian accent, especially while sitting with the Chinese president, negotiating with him, no less, for money.
Argentina has been working with China to secure a currency swap, which will help Argentina boost its dwindling reserves. And that’s on top of the billions Argentina already receives from China each year. Why make fun of the hand that feeds you? Who knows.
Kirchner’s tasteless tweet comes on the heels of a separate and much more serious public relations problem. A leading prosecutor investigating the bombing of a Jewish Center in Argentina in 1994 turned up dead shortly after accusing the Argentine government of working to cover up the inquiry. Kirchner originally called the prosecutor’s death a suicide before backtracking on her suggestion and saying instead that the death was part of a plot to undermine her government.
Kirchner’s approval rating has fallen by seven points since November and now stands below 40 percent, according to a poll conducting Wednesday morning by Carlos Fara and Associates. It’s hard to imagine this latest gaffe will help reverse that trend.
Argentina’s president sent out this strange, offensive, and frankly racist, tweet - The Washington Post
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Argentine President Racist Tweet: Chinese Social Media Reacts
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who has been live-tweeting her visit to China while a scandal rocks her government at home, shocked people worldwide when she used the social media network to apparently mock Chinese speech on Wednesday. Some Chinese social media users were taking it all in stride. “Even the Argentinian president knows Chinese people can’t differentiate between their R’s and L’s?” one user quipped on Chinese microblogging site Weibo. Others, however, took offense to the tweet, which was widely perceived as racist. “During the Argentine president’s visit she made a very offensive joke at our expense. Is she tired of living?” opined another.
Kirchner’s post – which had been retweeted more than 2,300 times and favorited more than 1,200 times by early Wednesday – plays on the stereotype that Chinese can’t distinguish between their R’s and L’s. The tweet translates in English as: "More than 1,000 attendees at the event… Are they all from “La Cámpola” and did they only come for the lice and petloleum?” Kirchner misspelled “La Cámpora,” an Argentine political youth organization supporting her government, as well as the words “rice” (arroz) and “petroleum.”
Chinese Weibo users in recent days had been following Kirchner’s tweets via Chinese media Xinhua coverage, as Twitter is blocked in the country. Up until her controversial post, Kirchner’s tweets had been solely about her visit to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to promote investment in South America. Energy and agriculture were among some of the major issues she discussed with Xi during her four-day trip to China, according to Bloomberg.
After her original post, Kirchner tweeted once again in Spanish, which roughly translated to: “Sorry. You know what? It’s just that [the statement] was so highly ridiculous and absurd, it can only be understood as humor. If not, it would have been very toxic.”
Argentina has been relying on Chinese loans to prop up its currency, which has fallen 23 percent against the dollar in the last year after the country defaulted on its debts twice in 13 years. Kirchner said in a speech that she signed 15 agreements with Xi to boost investments in the country. China, the world’s second-largest economy, had previously indicated it will invest some $250 billion in Latin America.
Presidential spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro did not respond to Bloomberg’s requests for comments on the tweet, and the presidential palace’s official Twitter account has retweeted Kirchner’s comment about the offensive tweet being a joke. One Weibo user described her Chinese tweet as an “unfunny joke.”
In Argentina, meanwhile, Kirchner’s government is reeling from the killing of Alberto Nisman, a prosecutor who was investigating the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center. He drafted a warrant for Kirchner’s arrest and questioning before being found shot dead in his home on Jan. 18.
Argentine President Racist Tweet: Chinese Social Media Reacts
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Argentina’s Cristina Kirchner pokes fun at Chinese accent during visit to Beijing
Latin president makes joke on Twitter about Chinese difficulty in distinguishing 'l’s from 'r’s as she meets with Xi Jinping
Cristina Kirchner, the president of Argentina, risked a diplomatic row with China on Wednesday after posting a Tweet in which she appeared to mimic the Chinese accent.
During an official visit to Beijing, she posted a message about food and oil deals that poked fun at the Chinese tendency to pronounce 'r’s in Spanish and English like 'l’s.
"“Did they only come for lice and petloleum,” she wrote in Spanish on her Twitter account. A minute later, she appeared to realise her mistake, saying “sorry, the levels of ridiculousness and absurdity are so high they can only be digested with humor.”
By then it appeared to be too late. Within an hour of publication, the message had already been reTweeted more than 1,100 times.
The Chinese are in discussions with Argentina about a series of investment projects that the debt-hit Latin American nation badly needs. A Chinese firm, Sinopec, is considering a partnership deal in Argentina to develop shale gas and oil in the vast Vaca Muerta fields.
Argentina’s Cristina Kirchner pokes fun at Chinese accent during visit to Beijing - Telegraph
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