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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Shut up, Spain king tells Chavez |
| 2007-11-10 |
| Spain's King Juan Carlos told Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez to "shut up" as the Ibero-American summit drew to a close in Santiago, Chile. The outburst came after Mr Chavez called former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar a "fascist". Mr Chavez then interrupted Spanish PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's calls for him to be more diplomatic, prompting the king's outburst. Latin American, Portuguese, Spanish and Andorran leaders were meeting in Chile. 'Democratically elected' Mr Chavez called Mr Aznar, a close ally of US President George W Bush, a fascist, adding "fascists are not human. A snake is more human." Mr Zapatero said: "Former President Aznar was democratically elected by the Spanish people and was a legitimate representative of the Spanish people." Mr Chavez repeatedly tried to interrupt, despite his microphone being turned off. The king leaned forward and said: "Why don't you shut up?" According to reports, the king used a familiar term normally used only for close acquaintances - or children. Later, Mr Chavez responded to the king's rebuke. According to the Associated Press news agency, he said: "I do not offend by telling the truth. The Venezuelan government reserves the right to respond to any aggression, anywhere, in any space and in any manner." The theme of this year's 22-nation summit was "social cohesion". |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #1 The Venezuelan government reserves the right to respond to any aggression, anywhere, in any space and in any manner The Latino version of "to the last drop of blood™". Nice to see Zappy show some stones. Well...pebbles. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-11-10 21:12 |