Some people can’t handle the truth. And it would figure that those people are royal-we fossils.
Spain’s King Juan Carlos told Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez to “shut up” as the Ibero-American summit drew to a close in Santiago, Chile.
The outburst came after Mr Chavez called former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar a “fascist”.
Mr Chavez then interrupted Spanish PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s calls for him to be more diplomatic, prompting the king’s outburst.
[…]
Mr Chavez called Mr Aznar, a close ally of US President George W Bush, a fascist, adding “fascists are not human. A snake is more human.”
Mr Zapatero said: “Former President Aznar was democratically elected by the Spanish people and was a legitimate representative of the Spanish people.”
Mr Chavez repeatedly tried to interrupt, despite his microphone being turned off. The king leaned forward and said: “Why don’t you shut up?”
According to reports, the king used a familiar term normally used only for close acquaintances – or children.
Later, Mr Chavez responded to the king’s rebuke.
According to the Associated Press news agency, he said: “I do not offend by telling the truth. The Venezuelan government reserves the right to respond to any aggression, anywhere, in any space and in any manner.”
The theme of this year’s 22-nation summit was “social cohesion”.
We now pause so you can soil yourself laughing over that last line.
This was not the only outburst that happened at that summit–Argentina and Uruguay were also at each other’s throats over a Finnish paper mill on the Uruguayan side of their shared border. (Clicky the linky and scroll down to see how shocking it is to the stodge-podge media types that Chavecito is getting along all right with, of all people, Alvaro Uribe, if you need more shits ‘n’ giggles. Chavecito, a diplomat in disguise? Hey, he’s the only one who actually stands a chance of succeeding. The FARC guerrillas will negotiate with him and no one else.)
But seriously, folks, Chavecito is right–or at least, he’s only exaggerating very slightly. Aznar, if not exactly a fascist of the Generalissimo Franco ilk, is still an abject, plague-ridden sewer rat. And there are at least a few leftists in Spain who are also not afraid to call a spade a fucking shovel already:
Do you require a translation, gentle reader? (Didn’t think so.)
Chavecito has a right to be angry at him, too. Along with Bush, Aznar was the only foreign leader to recognize as “legitimate” the coup-dictatorship of Pedro Carmona in April 2002. Everyone else in Europe had the good sense to recognize that a coup against a democratically elected leader didn’t merit such enthusiasm. And the people of Spain, I’m guessing, were not impressed either at the prospect of seeing a popular president exiled or even killed when he was on the verge of putting a badly fucked-up country to rights.
There’s another dimension to this row, by the way: the prestige of the King of Spain Award for journalism was badly besmirched on Aznar’s watch. That’s when the prize was awarded to Venevision for its fraudulent reporting of the Carmonazo. How embarrassing to find out that a “smoking gun” is, in fact, an empty water pistol. Maybe His Majesty didn’t like to be reminded of the travesty that was perpetuated in his name. Ya think?
PS: Telesur has complete video up:
Chavecito actually got more support than detractors for his remarks, particularly from Nicaragua and Cuba. The King of Spain stormed out in a snit. Stick around till the end, and you’ll also see Rafael Correa in one of his spiffy shirts–a sight well worth waiting for, IMO.
