Hugo Chavez and El Rey Juan Carlos
An unprecedented exchange between the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, and the King of Spain, Juan Carlos I de Borb??n, took place during the closing ceremonies of the 17th Iberoamerican Summit (XVII Cumbre Iberoamericana). As the current president of Spain, Rodr??guez Zapatero, was responding to some earlier charges on the part of Chavez, Chavez continually interrupted. Visibly annoyed, the King leaned forward, pointing to Chavez, and said “¿Por qué no te callas?” (Why don’t you shut up?)
Earlier in the summit, Chavez, known for his strident statements, had called the previous president of Spain, José María Aznar, a “true fascist”. To be fair, Aznar’s far right “Partido Popular” (el PP) is in fact a direct descendent of Franco’s regime, but couldn’t honestly be called a Fascist party nor compared in any way to Hitler.
The current president of Spain, Zapatero, from the Partido Socialista de Obreros de España (el PSOE) is the traditional rival of the PP, but Zapatero spoke very eloquently that even if one had strong philosophical and political differences with someone, as Zapatero does have with Aznar, reducing the dialog to personal attacks in inappropriate.