Spain's king to Venezuela's Chavez - "shut up"

[Shammu]

Since this don't really fit anywhere..........
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Spain's king to Venezuela's Chavez - "shut up"

By Manuel Farias and Pav Jordan 1 hour, 32 minutes ago

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Spain's King Juan Carlos told Venezuelan President Hugo 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.

"Why don't you shut up?" the king shouted at Chavez, pointing a finger at the president when he tried to interrupt a speech by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

Zapatero was in the middle of a speech to the summit of mostly leftist leaders from Latin America, Portugal, Spain and Andorra, and was criticizing Chavez for calling former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar a fascist.

Chavez, a leading leftist foe of Washington, also attacked Spanish businessman Gerardo Diaz Ferran earlier in the week after he questioned the safety of foreign investments in Venezuela.

"I want to express to you President Hugo Chavez that in a forum where there are democratic governments ... one of the essential principles is respect," Zapatero told the leaders gathered in the Chilean capital, Santiago.

"You can disagree radically, without being disrespectful," Zapatero, a socialist, said sternly, drawing applause from some of the other heads of state.

Chavez, a former soldier, made his mark on the three-day summit from the start, announcing his arrival earlier in the week with defiant lyrics from a Mexican ballad.

"With the truth in hand, I do not offend, I do not fear," Chavez said on Saturday. "The government of Venezuela reserves the right to respond to any aggression."

PULP MILL FIGHT

The 19 leaders at the summit were nearly all leftists and the gathering was mostly friendly, although tension flared between neighbors Argentina and Uruguay over a controversial pulp mill along a border river.

Uruguay granted a long-awaited start-up permit to a Finnish group for the pulp mill on Thursday, drawing swift criticism from Argentina and deepening a long-running dispute.

The official theme of the summit was social cohesion, but many of the region's top leaders took advantage of the event to hold bilateral meetings on energy.

Latin American economies have expanded rapidly in recent years, putting pressure on energy supplies due to rising consumer demand and factory output in countries such as Chile and Argentina.

While most heads of state were due to leave Chile on Saturday, Chavez planned to join some of South America's most left-leaning presidents at a rally in Santiago for a "People's Summit."

Among those expected to attend were Bolivia's Evo Morales, Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage, Ecuador's Rafael Correa and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega.

In his closing remarks, Morales accused other countries of perceiving him as a lackey of the Venezuelan president.

"They treat us like animals because of the unconditional cooperation from comrade Hugo Chavez ... him as the big one and me as the little one," Morales told summit leaders.

Spain's king to Venezuela's Chavez - "shut up"

[Soldier4Christ]

Ironic that a Godless socialist would invoke Jesus in his defense…

Hugo Chávez is not shutting up. Venezuela's president stepped up his verbal counter-attack against the Spanish king yesterday by comparing his wounded pride to the suffering of Jesus Christ and Latin America's colonial oppression.

Three days after Juan Carlos urged Chávez to "shut up" at a summit it was the latter doing all the talking while the king retreated into silence. The "explosion" of royal disdain betrayed an enduring colonial superiority complex, the president said upon his return to Caracas. It echoed not only 500 years of imperial power and abuse, but also the persecution of Christ.

Article continues
Should he accept the king's injunction to shut up, "the stones of the people of Latin America would cry out", said Chávez, paraphrasing a comment by Christ in Jerusalem shortly before his crucifixion. The Venezuelan information ministry issued press releases identifying the relevant part of the Bible.

The self-styled socialist revolutionary also suggested that Juan Carlos, whom he referred to as "Mr King", supported a coup which briefly ousted him in 2002.

At a reception in the royal palace in Madrid - Juan Carlos's first public appearance since the summit - the king made no reference to Chávez's allegations,

The spat began on Saturday at a summit in Santiago, Chile, when Chávez accused the former Spanish prime minister, José María Aznar, of being a fascist. The king interjected: "Why don't you shut up?"

The breach of protocol elicited widespread support in Spain. "At an international level, in Latin America and in the press, there has been a total expression of solidarity and support. The king has an enormous political and moral authority," said Spain's foreign minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos.

Diplomats on both sides said the row would blow over since Spain's socialist government has generally good relations with Caracas.

But not before Chávez had his say. "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.

[Littleboy]

Ironic that a Godless socialist would invoke Jesus in his defense…

Hugo Chávez is not shutting up. Venezuela's president stepped up his verbal counter-attack against the Spanish king yesterday by comparing his wounded pride to the suffering of Jesus Christ and Latin America's colonial oppression.

Three days after Juan Carlos urged Chávez to "shut up" at a summit it was the latter doing all the talking while the king retreated into silence. The "explosion" of royal disdain betrayed an enduring colonial superiority complex, the president said upon his return to Caracas. It echoed not only 500 years of imperial power and abuse, but also the persecution of Christ.

Article continues
Should he accept the king's injunction to shut up, "the stones of the people of Latin America would cry out", said Chávez, paraphrasing a comment by Christ in Jerusalem shortly before his crucifixion. The Venezuelan information ministry issued press releases identifying the relevant part of the Bible.

The self-styled socialist revolutionary also suggested that Juan Carlos, whom he referred to as "Mr King", supported a coup which briefly ousted him in 2002.

At a reception in the royal palace in Madrid - Juan Carlos's first public appearance since the summit - the king made no reference to Chávez's allegations,

The spat began on Saturday at a summit in Santiago, Chile, when Chávez accused the former Spanish prime minister, José María Aznar, of being a fascist. The king interjected: "Why don't you shut up?"

The breach of protocol elicited widespread support in Spain. "At an international level, in Latin America and in the press, there has been a total expression of solidarity and support. The king has an enormous political and moral authority," said Spain's foreign minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos.

Diplomats on both sides said the row would blow over since Spain's socialist government has generally good relations with Caracas.

But not before Chávez had his say. "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.

Crazy people out there Brother, HUH?
YLBD

[Shammu]

Chavez to Spanish king: apologize or risk business
Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:32pm EST

By Enrique Andres Pretel

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez demanded on Tuesday Spain's king apologize for telling him to shut up, warning that Spanish investments could suffer in its former colony because of the spat.

Chavez, who railed against imperialism and capitalism, named banks Santander and BBVA as possible targets, saying the OPEC nation did not need Spanish business.

"The king lost it," Chavez said at a late-night political rally. "He should say, '... I, the king, confess, I was beside myself, I made a mistake.'"

At the weekend, King Juan Carlos told Chavez to shut up at a summit of leaders from Latin America and Iberia when the Venezuelan leftist interrupted a speech by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

The controversy has tested relations with Spain, sparked headlines around the world and eclipsed debate in Venezuela over Chavez's effort to win approval in a December 2 referendum to expand his powers, including scrapping term limits.

"Whatever has been privatized can be taken back, we can take it back," Chavez said earlier at a news conference. "If the government of Spain or the state of Spain ... start to generate a conflict, things are not going to go well."

Spain, a top investor in Venezuela and the rest of Latin America, sought to ease tensions through diplomatic channels.

"We are fully convinced that due to action being taken on all sides it will be possible in a relatively ... short time, to return ties to normal," Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said.

Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica is also a major mobile phone operator in the South American country.

Chavez, who has been nationalizing swaths of the economy, took over the biggest phone company in Venezuela and also threatened to seize the whole banking sector this year as he tries to create a socialist state.

Spanish businesses have invested $2.4 billion in Venezuela since Chavez took office in 1999, according to Spain's Business and Commerce Council.

Grupo Santander has some $700 million in investment in Venezuela, while Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA has $670 million invested, according to figures provided by the companies.

CONTROVERSIAL COMIC

Chavez, who called former conservative Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar a fascist at the weekend meeting, has courted controversy at summits before, most notably last year by calling U.S. President George W. Bush the devil at the United Nations.

Political analysts say Chavez relishes such fights because he uses them to fire up his support base among the majority poor at home with blunt rhetoric that plays on their misgivings of rich countries' investments in Latin America.

On Tuesday, he said the king's "arrogance" exposed that colonial attitudes toward South America have not died out.

But the folksy president also showed he had a sense of humor over the flap.

When a reporter asked him a series of questions about the raft of constitutional changes expected to be passed in next month's plebiscite, he joked: "Why don't you shut up?"

Chavez to Spanish king: apologize or risk business

[HisDaughter]

What a small man.