Posted on 11/11/2007 8:02:14 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SANTIAGO, Chile - President Hugo Chavez lashed back at Spain's king Sunday for telling him to "shut up" during a summit, suggesting the monarch knew in advance of a 2002 coup that briefly ousted the Venezuelan leader from power.
Chavez claimed that Spain's ambassador had backed interim president Pedro Carmona and appeared at Venezuela's presidential palace during the two-day coup in 2002. He demanded to know how deeply King Juan Carlos had been involved.
"Mr. King, did you know about the coup d'etat against Venezuela, against the democratic, legitimate government of Venezuela in 2002?" Chavez said before reporters in Santiago. "It's very hard to imagine the Spanish ambassador would have been at the presidential palace supporting the coup plotters without authorization from his majesty."
Chavez touched off the spat Sunday at the closing session of a summit of Latin American nations, Spain and Portugal. Chavez accused former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar of backing the 2002 coup and repeatedly calling him a "fascist" in an address to leaders gathered in the Chilean capital.
Spain's current prime minister, socialist Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, asked Chavez to be more diplomatic and show respect for other leaders despite political differences.
Chavez continued to interrupt as Zapatero spoke, although his microphone was off.
King Juan Carlos, seated next to Zapatero, then leaned toward Chavez and loudly asked, "Por que no te callas?" — or "Why don't you shut up?"
The leftist Venezuelan leader has often grabbed attention with flamboyant speeches at international gatherings, including calling President Bush the "devil" on the floor of the United Nations last year.
Chavez regularly accuses Washington of helping orchestrate the 2002 coup against him — a charge U.S. officials deny. U.S. and Spanish ambassadors did meet with Carmona and his newly appointed foreign minister on April 13, 2002, hours before Chavez was restored to power following massive demonstrations.
Officials at the Spanish Embassy in Venezuela and the royal palace in Madrid could not be reached for comment Sunday.
In comments published by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Chavez recalled his spat with the monarch. "He acted like an angry bull" as he stormed out, Chavez said. "I'm no bullfighter — but ole!"
Chavez, who faces violent protests at home against proposed constitutional reforms that would greatly boost his power, said the incident had been exaggerated by the media.
"I hope this will not damage relations," Chavez said as he left his Santiago hotel room Sunday morning. "But I think it's imprudent for a king to shout at a president to shut up."
"Mr. King, we are not going to shut up," he said.
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez(R) and Nicaragua's president Daniel Ortega pose during the Summit for Friendship and Integration of the Ibero American People in Santiago, 10 November 2007. Spain's King Juan Carlos won praise back home on Sunday after telling Chavez to "just shut up" before storming out of an Ibero-American summit.(AFP/Geralso Caso)
A combination photo shows Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez addressing the closing session of the XVII Ibero-American Summit (right photo) and Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero (L) and King Juan Carlos protesting over Chavez's speech (left photo) in Santiago November 10, 2007. King Juan Carlos told Chavez on Saturday to "shut up" during closing speeches by leaders from the Latin world that brought the Ibero-American summit to an acrimonious end. REUTERS/Handout (CHILE).
The Commies should get a room. They can take turns pumping each other......’s egos.
Chavez is an obnoxious pig
How much longer can Chavez last? I have a feeling he’s alienating too many people and someones going to have him assassinated.
He deserves it. He’s a fruitcake.
Yes he is and he is also getting way to visiable for the wrong reasons.
How long has Castro lasted ?....if he controls the military he can just about do as he pleases, even against a hostile media and thousands of student protesters...possibly only if the whole country revolts against him and they burn everything in sight- then he might get the message...
He is rotten to the core, a true dictator
Someone needs to send that prima donna a box of Midol.
Why doesn’t somebody just shoot this SOB.
Here are a few of Hugo's friends...
Comrade Fidel Castro
Mahmoud (Little Hitler) Ahmadinejad
Moonbat Jimmy Carter
Saddam Hussein
Jacques-strap Chirac
Media Whore Cindy Shaheed
Idiot leftist Harry Belafonte
Idiot leftist and has-been actor Danny Glover
Anti-American leftist Sean Penn
NY Slimes Author Greg Palast
Former Mexican President & Certifiable Piece of Filth Vicente Fox
It's no secret why Chavez is such a reprehensible POS; look at who he hangs out with.
Where are the old school CIA hit men when you need them?
Ain’t it great....Carlos sees what a complete low life he is...sometimes that Monarch snobiness ways are fun to watch. Boy, they know when they see a LOW LIFE. Now the low life is fighting back like a big old baby.
B*STARDS...................All of them! May they rot in hell!
Great pictures plus captions. But that photo of Chavez and Ahmadinejad, ACK! What a couple of UGLY people.
I think that as friends of Ameerica’s enemy they should all share Saddam’s fate.
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