Mr. Charming.
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.
Viva El Rey Juan Carlos!
I’d award him two ears (actually, the whole head).
All of that is true in Democratic guvmints, but Hugo shouldn’t be included due to his lets-copy-Havana style of management.
Chavez has a greatly inflated version of his importance and influence. The fact that he’s el presidente of Venezuela has not properly sunk in in terms of its relative significance. I mean no disrespect to the Venezuelan people (particularly their very lovely women) and it is a very beautiful land… but really it’s not much in terms of world importance. His being president of Venezuela and telling others how they should act and talk is like me being a blogger and demanding the president listen to me. Who the hell are you again?
Chavez interrupted him, Chavez got smacked down. Perfect.
Who the hell are you again?
He’s a megalomaniac in the mold of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. The fact that Venezuela is small potatoes is not important to him, you see because he’s going to make Venezuela into the Greatest Country On The Face Of The Earth, and all will bow down and worship his greatness.
Oh, and Venezuela’s, too, but that will be secondary to the greatness of Su Exelencia Suprema GeneralÃÂssimo Hugo Chávez, Salvador de Venezuela y Matador del Dragón de Capitalismo, que viva para los siglos de los siglos amén.
Link to story?
got it from HA http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,310404,00.html
Via aligning the Non-Aligned Nations, no doubt.
“Why do you keep looking at me like that, Hugo?” – Fidel Castro
Well, Chavez is a megalomaniac, and he worships Bolivar (who I think would spit on him). So maybe Chavez thinks he will revive Bolivar’s Gran Colombia, which is all of today’s Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, and part of Guyana and a few other pieces.
It’s not a good sign that: 1) Venezuela has a long-standing boundary dispute with Guyana, and 2) Chavez added a star to the Venezuelan flag to represent the large section of Guyana Venezuela claims. Guyana is a former British territory; will Britain help them if Chavez attacks?
On the plus side, Chavez has managed to offend lots of other Latin American leaders, even nominal lefties like the presidents of Chile, Brazil and Ecuador, if I remember correctly, at various times.
Maybe the last guy, but not the current President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa. He’s a Chavista. Yay. But on the bright side:
“The Venezuelan government reserves the right to respond to any aggression, anywhere, in any space and in any manner.”
Then I am sure they will understand the United States will reciprocate.
I wonder if he said “¡Callate!” or “¡Callense!” Because that would make all the difference.
Ah, my question is answered. “Tu.” Heh.
I learned about this in spanish class, Hugo was bad-mouthing spain. Hugo deserved that!
P.S. most spanish people have the king shouting shut up as their ringtones for their cell phones