During the closing session of the 12th Summit of Iberoamerican Leaders and Heads of State held in Chile King Juan Carlos caused a diplomatic incident when he lent over and said to Hugo Chavez \u00abPor qu\u00e9 no te callas\u00bb (Why don’t you shut up?) when the Venezuelan president kept trying to interrupt Spanish president Jos\u00e9 Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (see below – click twice to see video):<\/p>\n
The incident occured when Zapatero responded to Chavez’s description of former Spanish PM Jos\u00e9 Maria Aznar. The Venezuelan president called Aznar a \u00abfascist\u00bb and said he was \u00abless human than a tiger or a snake\u00bb. Zapatero was given the chance to reply and he reminded Chavez that when democratic governments meet to discuss their interests and differences, the underlying principle was always respect. \u00abIt is possible to be on opposite sides as far as ideology is concerned, and I am certainly nowhere near the ideas of Aznar, but he was elected by the Spanish voters, and I demand respect\u00bb he said.<\/p>\n
While Zapatero was talking, Chavez kept interrupting him, even though his microphone was switched off. King Juan Carlos finally lost his temper and invited the Venezuelan leader to shut up. He then left the session in protest while Rodriguez Zapatero stayed in his seat to address any possible further comments. Juan Carlos returned, at the Chilean president’s request, for the final part of the closing session.<\/p>\n
After the incident Hugo Chavez said he stood by what he had said about Aznar, and he questioned Juan Carlos’s attitude. \u00abHe may be a king, but he can’t shut me up\u00bb, he said. \u00abWe are both heads of state, the only difference is that I have been democratically elected three times\u00bb he said.<\/p>\n
Aznar reportedly telephoned both Zapatero and the King after the Summit, to express his gratitude.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
During the closing session of the 12th Summit of Iberoamerican Leaders and Heads of State held in Chile King Juan Carlos caused a diplomatic incident when he lent over and said to Hugo Chavez \u00abPor qu\u00e9 no te callas\u00bb (Why don’t you shut up?) when the Venezuelan president kept trying to interrupt Spanish president Jos\u00e9 Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (see below – click twice to see video): The incident occured when Zapatero responded to Chavez’s description of former Spanish PM Jos\u00e9 Maria Aznar. The Venezuelan president called Aznar a \u00abfascist\u00bb and said he was \u00abless human than a tiger or a <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[39,40],"class_list":["post-5794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sin-categoria","tag-spanish-royals","tag-zapatero"],"yoast_head":"\n