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Chavez Wants an Apology from Spanish King
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
AP via Intl Herald Trib - Nov 16, 2007
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/16/america/LA-GEN-Venezuela-Spain.php
Chavez demands Spanish king apologize for telling him to 'shut up'
The Associated Press
CARACAS, Venezuela: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez demanded Friday
the king of Spain apologize for telling him to "shut up" during a spat
at a recent summit that has caused friction between the two governments.
"The king of Spain, he has to offer some type of apology because he
attacked me," Chavez said in an interview on state television. "I'm not
going to ask him to get down on his knees, but that in some way he
recognize that he went too far, that he did something inappropriate."
The verbal clash occurred at a summit in Chile on Saturday when Chavez
accused former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar of backing a
coup that briefly ousted him in 2002. Chavez repeatedly called Aznar a
"fascist."
Spain's current prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, asked
Chavez to be more diplomatic and show respect for other leaders. As
Chavez repeatedly tried to interrupt, King Juan Carlos leaned forward
and said: "Why don't you shut up?"
"I don't want this to keep growing more serious, but the king or the
Spanish government should in some way recognize that they were the ones
at fault and that they attacked us. We aren't the aggressors," Chavez
said.
Chavez also said that during the 2002 coup, the Spanish ambassador
joined the U.S. ambassador in recognizing the interim leader who
briefly became president, before military loyalists returned Chavez to
power amid street protests.
"Could it be that the king knew about the coup also and gave the green
light?" Chavez said, suggesting the ambassador at the time must have
had the king's blessing.
***
Reuters - Nov 16, 2007
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN1623120620071116
Chavez says king apology key to easing Spain spat
CARACAS, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on
Friday Spain could stop an escalation of a dispute that threatens
billions of dollars of investments if its king apologizes for telling
him in public to shut up.
While Chavez has previously demanded King Juan Carlos say sorry, it was
the first time he directly linked a royal climbdown to resolving a spat
that erupted when the monarch rebuked the Venezuelan leftist at a
weekend summit in Chile.
"They have sent me a lot of messages in all sorts of ways that they do
not want this to become a problem. Well then, they should put things
right," Chavez said in an interview on state television. "The least I
expect is that the king ... offers some kind of apology."
"I do not want things to get more serious but the king or the
government of Spain needs to in some way recognize they are the ones at
fault," he added.
Spain has sought to ease tensions through diplomatic channels but has
said that mutual respect, rather than blaming the king, was the way to
help the incident blow over.
Chavez has threatened to reconsider business and diplomatic ties with
the ex-colonial power. He has warned he will scrutinize Spanish
companies, which have invested $2.4 billion in the major oil ex****ter
since he came to power in 1999.
Chavez, who rails at capitalist "imperialism," has named Grupo
Santander (SAN.MC: Quote, Profile, Research) and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya
Argentaria SA (BBVA.MC: Quote, Profile, Research), owners of top
Venezuelan banks, as possible targets. He says the OPEC nation does not
need their business.
The king said "Why don't you shut up?" after Chavez interrupted Spain's
prime minister during a speech at the summit where the Venezuelan had
repeatedly attacked former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar as a
fascist. (Re****ting by Saul Hudson, editing by Jackie Frank)
(c) Reuters 2006. All rights reserved
***
AFP via Google - Nov 16, 2007
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ip7BULRgz_GUBK746iUI-sreIUlg
Chavez demands apology from Spain's king
CARACAS (AFP) " Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez demanded Friday that
Spain's King Juan Carlos apologize for telling him to "shut up" during
a summit in Chile last week.
Chavez said Juan Carlos should "offer some type of apology."
A diplomatic row erupted at the Ibero-American Summit last Saturday
when the king told Chavez to "shut up" when the leftist Venezuelan
leader called former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar a
"fascist."
"The least I'm entitled to as head of state is that the King of Spain
- -- who is not the king of Latin America -- offer some type of apology
for attacking me," Chavez told state-run television VTV.
Chavez claims he neither saw nor heard the king, as he (Chavez) was
addressing Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero at the
Ibero-American summit.
"If I had heard him ... I would have stared him down like an Indian,
because I am an Indian and a little bit black and white," he said.
Zapatero on Thursday said the king was merely defending him when he
intervened at the summit -- Chavez interrupted Zapatero's speech
several times before the king told him "why don't you just shut up."
The Spanish prime minister said the incident "took on great
significance" because television cameras picked it up.
The populist and virulently anti-American Chavez made his comments
during the television interview on the eve of a foreign visit that
begins on Saturday with the OPEC summit in Riyadh, followed by a trip
to Tehran and a visit to Paris for his first meeting with French
President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Copyright (c) 2007 AFP. All rights reserved
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