Uruguay's President Jose Mujica, speaking without realising a microphone was on, has insulted Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her late husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner.
"This old lady is worse than the cross-eyed man," Mr Mujica, 77, said, according to a video posted on Todo Noticias Television channel website and audio posted on Uruguay's El Observador. "He was more of a politician, she's stubborn."
Relations between the neighbouring countries have deteriorated since Ms Kirchner restricted imports and tightened controls on the exchange market. The measures, which limit access to foreign currencies, have hurt Uruguay's exports and tourism industry. A $1.1 billion investment in a pulp mill on the river bordering both countries led to a four-year bridge blockade by Argentina, which accused Uruguay of violating an international accord on the river's use.
In 2007, when then Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez allowed the pulp mill to start operations, Mr Kirchner told him he had "stabbed Argentina in the back". In 2002, Uruguayan president Jorge Batlle accused Argentines of being a "bunch of thieves", a comment for which he later apologised during a trip to Buenos Aires.
Mr Mujica, a former guerrilla who took office in 2010, said later he had not spoken publicly about Argentina at the event in Uruguay and would not offer clarifications, the Montevideo-based newspaper El Pais reported.
Officials at Uruguay's Presidential Office declined to comment when reached by telephone. Phone calls seeking comment from Argentine presidential spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro weren't immediately returned.
Mr Kirchner, who died in October 2010 from a heart attack, was president from 2003 to 2007. His wife succeeded him and was re-elected in 2011.
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