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| Caribbean-Latin America | |
| King good for something: Tells Chavez to shut up | |
| 2007-11-11 | |
| The king of Spain told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to "shut up" Saturday during a heated exchange at a summit of leaders from Latin America, Spain and Portugal. Chavez, who called President Bush the "devil" on the floor of the United Nations last year, triggered the exchange by repeatedly referring to former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar as a "fascist." Aznar, a conservative who was an ally of Bush as prime minister, "is a fascist," Chavez said in a speech at the Ibero-American summit in Santiago, Chile. "Fascists are not human. A snake is more human." Spain's current socialist prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, responded during his own allotted time by urging Chavez to be more diplomatic in his words and respect other leaders despite political differences. "Former President Aznar was democratically elected by the Spanish people and was a legitimate representative of the Spanish people," he said, eliciting applause from the gathered heads of state. Chavez repeatedly tried to interrupt, but his microphone was off. Spanish King Juan Carlos, seated next to Zapatero, angrily turned to Chavez and said, "Why don't you shut up?" The Venezuelan leader did not immediately respond, but later used time ceded to him by his close ally Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega to answer Zapatero's speech. "I do not offend by telling the truth," he said. "The Venezuelan government reserves the right to respond to any aggression, anywhere, in any space and in any manner."
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| Posted by:Nimble Spemble |
| #11 I think the "tu madre" implied was a bit much, however :-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-11-11 17:03 |
| #10 Shut up - cayete la boca - is less nasty in Spanish. |
| Posted by: McZoid 2007-11-11 16:25 |
| #9 What's great about this, other than the King telling Hugo to put a sock on it, is that you had Zappie defending Aznar in public. That's as it should be in a democracy, where your opponents are that and not your enemies. But there's no love lost between the two. Hugo, uniting the Spanish. Way to go big boy! |
| Posted by: Steve White 2007-11-11 15:44 |
| #8 Video here |
| Posted by: Icerigger 2007-11-11 15:44 |
| #7 The king should've told him to have another doughnut... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-11-11 11:17 |
| #6 Things not so good for 'ugo at home. He's off to Saudi in a couple of days. |
| Posted by: Thomas Woof 2007-11-11 10:35 |
| #5 Chavez calls Aznar a facist (talk about irony) and then Zappy begs/demands Chavez acknowledge that Aznar was democraticly elected (w/out really addressing the facist charge). King of Spain breaks up the circle jerk. Sounds like a summit of titans. |
| Posted by: regular joe 2007-11-11 10:29 |
| #4 "Oh yeah? Why don't you come over here and make me?" -- Chavez, potentially channeling his inner Fortney "Pete" Stark. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2007-11-11 10:17 |
| #3 WTG King Juan! |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2007-11-11 10:14 |
| #2 When the Civil Guard sprayed the Spanish Assembly with bullets in a seventies' coup attempt, the King alone did not climb under his desk. The Spanish remember that. |
| Posted by: McZoid 2007-11-11 05:39 |
| #1 "is that him again? Oh Shut up, Senoir Chavez" |
| Posted by: Mad Eye Thrineger4793 2007-11-11 01:52 |