The racist gesture, made by a white Argentine tourist toward waiters at a Rio de Janeiro bar, was captured on video and quickly ricocheted across the internet.
The video, recorded in January by an employee of the bar, showed Agostina Páez imitating a monkey and uttering a racial slur as she walked away.
In Brazil, the backlash was swift. Ms. Páez, a lawyer, was arrested and charged with making a racist insult, a crime under Brazilian law. Now, Ms. Páez, 29, faces a possible prison sentence of two to five years and hefty fines, in a case that has kindled fierce debate in Brazil and Argentina.
A court in Rio de Janeiro began hearing evidence last month, and will issue a verdict in the coming weeks. Ms. Páez has apologized for the gesture, but said she was provoked.
The case has captured headlines and fueled divisions between two neighboring South American countries whose governments have starkly different positions on race.
In Brazil, which only abolished slavery in 1888, the case exemplifies the country’s strong antiracism laws, which are part of a long and ongoing struggle for racial justice. In Argentina, some, including conservative lawmakers, have come to Ms. Páez’s defense and cast her as a victim of “woke laws” gone too far.
A provocation, then a racist gesture
Around dawn on Jan. 14, Ms. Páez and her friends were leaving a bar in a beachfront Rio neighborhood. With details of the case under seal, it’s not clear how the confrontation began, but the prosecution said it started with a disagreement over the bar tab.
Ms. Páez has said, online and in interviews, that the bar overcharged her and two Argentine friends. Then, as the women left, she claimed, the employees made obscene gestures toward them.
Security camera footage from the bar, reviewed by The New York Times, appears to show an employee taunting the tourists as they were leaving the bar. The prosecution declined to comment on the video footage, citing the court’s order to keep the case details secret.
Ms. Páez did not respond to a request for an interview. She told Argentine media that she had not intended to be racist. “It was an emotional reaction,’’ she said. “I never imagined the gravity of it all.”
Sebastian Robles, one of her lawyers, stressed that her “action was a reaction” to the taunts, but recognized his client had violated Brazilian law.
“Brazil has long suffered from the issue of slavery,” Mr. Robles said. “The law and the offense have a history.”
Fabíola Tardin, the prosecutor in the case, said the disagreement over the bill did not justify Ms. Páez’s behavior or shield her from consequences.
“You can’t simply waive Brazilian law because she claims she didn’t know racism was a crime,” Ms. Tardin said in an interview.
A victim in Argentina, a symbol of racial justice in Brazil
In her home country, Ms. Páez has been portrayed by some as a victim of an overzealous justice system.
They have pointed to claims made by Ms. Páez who said, on social media and in interviews, that she received death threats, had her legal rights violated and suffered from “extreme persecution” in Brazil. “I’m desperate, I’m scared to death,” she said in one video.
Prominent right-wing voices in Argentina have accused Brazil of trying to make an example of Ms. Páez by blowing the episode out of proportion.
“She is a victim of the Brazilian state,” said Lilia Lemoine, an Argentine lawmaker and close ally of President Javier Milei, accusing Brazil’s leftist government of pursuing “a vendetta.”
Mr. Milei, a self-proclaimed radical libertarian who rose to prominence among the global right by bashing progressive positions, has dismantled the agency combating discrimination in Argentina.
In Brazil, a majority Black country that is still grappling with the legacy of centuries of slavery, the case has been viewed in a starkly different light.
Racism has been enshrined in Brazil’s constitution as a crime since 1988, but prosecutions are rare.
After a recent push by activists and lawmakers for more accountability, Brazil has implemented some of the strictest antiracism laws in the world.
Now, Ms. Páez’s trial has been celebrated as evidence that these laws are being applied.
“This is a source of national pride,” Ms. Tardin said. “It should be seen by Argentines as an inspiration, and not as a reason for hatred or resentment.”
Brazil says it is seeking justice, not retribution.
Wearing an ankle monitor, Ms. Páez has been under the watch of authorities in Rio since January because she was considered a flight risk.
Then, a court recently ruled that Ms. Páez could return to Argentina while she awaits the outcome of her trial, if she pays a $20,000 bail fee, according to her lawyer. Ms. Páez has paid the fee and is traveling back to Argentina on Wednesday, her lawyer said.
In the coming weeks, a Rio de Janeiro judge will decide Ms. Páez’s legal fate. Because she doesn’t have a criminal record and appeared remorseful, Ms. Tardin said the prosecution would not seek the maximum sentence if she were convicted.
She could face a shorter sentence in an Argentine prison or community service. The prosecution is also seeking tens of thousands of dollars in damages to the bar’s employees.
For Ms. Tardin, the case sends a clear message that her country will not tolerate racism.
“Brazil is being painted as this authoritarian country,” Ms. Tardin said, “when we are only seeking justice for the harm done.”
Ana Ionova is a contributor to The Times based in Rio de Janeiro, covering Brazil and neighboring countries.
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