Paraguayan Senator Refuses to Apologize as Government Condemns Racist Attack on France's Mbappé
"I will not apologize," said 62-year-old Sen. Celeste Amarilla. "I come from a generation when gays were beaten up and calling someone a little Black shit was common."
A Paraguayan senator on Tuesday partially retracted her racist rant against French soccer superstar Kylian Mbappé but refused to apologize as French prosecutors weigh hate crime charges and officials in both countries condemned her remarks.
Prosecutors in Paris are considering charges of incitement to hatred or violence, or aggravated public insult, against right-wing Paraguayan opposition Sen. Celeste Amarilla, after the French Football Federation filed a complaint calling the "racist remarks" of the lawmaker "totally abject and unacceptable."
France eliminated Paraguay from the FIFA World Cup on Saturday, beating the South American side 1-0 in the Round of 16 match in Philadelphia, with Mbappé scoring a game-winning penalty kick in the 70th minute.
Following the unusually physical match—some observers accused Paraguay of being sore losers and playing dirty—Mbappé refused to shake Paraguayan goalkeeper Orlando Gill's hand.
An incensed Amarilla then took to X to call Mbappé a "colonized Cameroonian, pretending hard to be French, resentful, newly rich, arrogant, and ugly."
In a second post, the senator said Mbappé "didn't even learn to write; instead of mother's milk, he suckled on coconuts, and the most educated things he heard were the chimpanzees."
Mbappé was born in Paris and grew up just outside the French capital in Bondy.
Amarilla also cheered racist posts by other X users and asked "permission" to use one comment asking, "What kind of 'dark' thing can you ask someone who ran from lions so as not to be eaten?"
While many Paraguayans rushed to Amarilla's defense in the name of their national, sporting, and even racial honor, the country's Foreign Ministry released a statement saying the nation's government "deplores and rejects" her remarks, which it said are "contrary to the values and principles that inspire peaceful coexistence and respect for the human dignity that our country promotes."
Paraguayan Vice President Pedro Alliana also weighed in, asserting Monday that "football is an expression of fraternity" that "should unite people," and "there is no room for any type of discrimination" in the sport.
Mbappé responded directly to Amarilla on social media, saying, "You are a despicable woman and unworthy of your position."
"You do not represent Paraguay, that country which has sweated passion and honor throughout the competition," the French captain and Real Madrid superstar wrote. "Through your recklessness and your brazen racism, the entire world has already forgotten the journey and the historic effort that your players accomplished during this World Cup, making way for an incompetent woman who gives the worst possible image of her country."
French President Emmanuel Macron posted on social media: "Another goal for Kylian Mbappé. Against racism this time. All my support. When words defile, our values respond—dignity, respect, fraternity."
Amarilla subsequently posted a screed attacking what she called Mbappé's "arrogance" and "contempt."
"My posts were written in the heat of the moment," she claimed. "That mixed-race blood—a beautiful blend of Indigenous and Spanish blood flowing through my veins—was boiling while you mocked those great Paraguayan players who fought as equals until the very end of the match, and that's why I wrote those messages."
During Amarilla's youth, Paraguay committed genocide against the Aché, Ayoreo, Guaraní, and other Indigenous peoples under the US-backed dictatorship of Gen. Alfredo Stroessner.
"Soon afterward, however, I regretted responding with the same insults that I myself receive," Amarilla continued in a conciliatory twist. "I, too am looked down upon for being brown-skinned and Latina; they call us 'sudacas.' I regretted it and deleted the post. I realized I was repeating patterns that I hate. I understand that it may have hurt you, because it is humiliating."
"Now I demand that you also retract your words and apologize to me," she added.
Speaking at a Tuesday morning press conference, Amarilla again defended her actions, which she said were rooted in her Generation X upbringing, declaring, "I will not apologize."
🗣️ Celeste Amarilla: “I come from a generation where calling someone a “little Black sh*t” was common.
Watch out for Paraguayans. We put Dinho behind bars for corruption.
Don't underestimate me, I can file charges against you.”
She’s disgusting, bro. 🤮 pic.twitter.com/yAw55G0hSP
— 10 (@Kylian) July 7, 2026
"I'm nearly 62 years old and grew up in a society where gays were beaten and where calling someone a little Black shit was the most common thing," the senator said. "I come from that generation, so now I'm trying to build a different Celeste Amarilla, that's capable of co-existing with others."
"Have patience," she added. "I'm trying."
