Spanish king tells Chavez to 'shut up'

AP ^ | November 10, 2007 | EDUARDO GALLARDO, Associated Press Writer

[I still care]

SANTIAGO, Chile - 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."

[I still care]

AP tries hard, but it can't make Chavez look good here.

[David1]

On youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTEa6EiPVf4&eurl=http://www.noticierodigital.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=284783

[edcoil]

“Why don’t you shut up?”

The King, is last of many to say this. Good for the King but, he is far from the first.

[Minnesoootan]

The aggresiion is in his mind,by not respondimg to the nut is the best response!

[the invisib1e hand]

"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."

And it's also exhibiting signs of parnoia.

[em2vn]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1923894/posts

[rdl6989]

bump.

[VeritatisSplendor]

This is a diplomatic scandal of the first magnitude. King Juan Carlos is the most prominent heir to a centuries-old tradition of European courtesy, and is so well-respected and correct in his manners that all who are familiar with this tradition will understand that only the most extreme impoliteness imaginable short of spitting in his face could possibly call for such a response.

[muawiyah]

Even Chavez can't make himself look good. He, too, is a Fascist. We all knew that instantly when he added anti-semitism to his repetoire.

Gotta' go along with him on his self-description though ~ real down home no good nasty fascist that he is.

[I still care]

Funny, I did a search for both Chavez and shut up, because I couldn’t believe it hadn’t been posted yet. I wonder what happened.

[I still care]

Oh, I see. I had “relevance” (default) in the box instead of “post time”. When I saw the first posts were from a while ago, I assumed there was no post on this.

[jonno]

Interesting. I had forgotten there are still those who hold to propriety. Nice to see the King say what was needed...

[WoofDog123]

I expect the political fireworks will only start up this week in VZ with Chavez’s responses, and hopefuly will provide a forum for some more open criticism of him by Spain and others.

I do not believe Chavez is remotely capable of just letting this pass, he couldn’t even shut his mouth while Zapatero was talking.

[blackdog]

I think he’s got his own private physician with his own pharmacy. The guy behaves like an amphetamine junky. Much the same as Hitler. Super enthusiastic, can’t hold back, can’t stop talking, paranoid, moody with extreme swings. Once the injections start over the pills there is no turning back.

[trane250]

Here tis but in Spanish:

"¿Por qué no te callas?", le gritó el Rey a Chávez apuntándole con el dedo, cuando el líder venezolano intentaba interrumpir las palabras con las que Zapatero pidió respeto para Aznar. El monarca salió momentáneamente del salón tras el enfrentamiento con Chávez.

Note that the king used the familiar "tu" in addressing Hugo.

[dr_who_2]

Couldn’t have said it better. This is what constitutional monarchs are good for.

[theDentist]

It’d be funny if he walked up to the Castro wannabe and delivered th emessage with a swift kick to the b***s.

[wimpycat]

Using the familiar “tu” was a sign of his contempt for Chavez.

Chavez es un puto huevon, como dicen en Chile.

[cpdiii]

Juan Carlos is a class act. He was Franco’s appointed heir.
Franco thought Juan Carlos would be a continuation of his dictatorship. Juan Carlos keep his mouth shut for over 20 years. When Franco died he lead Spain to democracy not a new dictatorship.

Juan Carlos also faced down a military coup. He had no army nor guns. All he had was the trust and faith of the Spanish nation. Juan Carlos and democracy won.

It is ironic that Franco saved Spain from communism but gave it a dictatorship. Juan Carlos saved Spain from the legacy of Franco. As I said, Juan Carlos is a class act.

[yldstrk]

Some occasions don’t call for nice.