"¿Por qué no te callas?"

[Hazir]

I must say I was a bit surprised to see/hear Juan Carlos lash out at Chavez telling him to shut up.

Guess it's real bad protocol, but I'm definately with Juan Carlos on this one.

[RandBlade]

I thought "good on you" when he did. And also good on the present, socialist, PM defending Aznar as having been the (then) democratically elected PM of Spain

[Dreadnaught]

For everyone to see...

Chavez Lashes Back at Spanish King

By EDUARDO GALLARDO – 1 hour ago

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — President Hugo Chavez lashed back at Spain's king Sunday for telling him to "shut up" during a summit, suggesting the monarch knew in advance of a 2002 coup that briefly ousted the Venezuelan leader from power.

Chavez claimed that Spain's ambassador had backed interim president Pedro Carmona and appeared at Venezuela's presidential palace during the two-day coup in 2002. He demanded to know how deeply King Juan Carlos had been involved.

"Mr. King, did you know about the coup d'etat against Venezuela, against the democratic, legitimate government of Venezuela in 2002?" Chavez said before reporters in Santiago. "It's very hard to imagine the Spanish ambassador would have been at the presidential palace supporting the coup plotters without authorization from his majesty."

Chavez touched off the spat Sunday at the closing session of a summit of Latin American nations, Spain and Portugal. Chavez accused former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar of backing the 2002 coup and repeatedly calling him a "fascist" in an address to leaders gathered in the Chilean capital.

Spain's current prime minister, socialist Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, asked Chavez to be more diplomatic and show respect for other leaders despite political differences.

Chavez continued to interrupt as Zapatero spoke, although his microphone was off.

King Juan Carlos, seated next to Zapatero, then leaned toward Chavez and loudly asked, "Por que no te callas?" — or "Why don't you shut up?"

The leftist Venezuelan leader has often grabbed attention with flamboyant speeches at international gatherings, including calling President Bush the "devil" on the floor of the United Nations last year.

Chavez regularly accuses Washington of helping orchestrate the 2002 coup against him — a charge U.S. officials deny. U.S. and Spanish ambassadors did meet with Carmona and his newly appointed foreign minister on April 13, 2002, hours before Chavez was restored to power following massive demonstrations.

Officials at the Spanish Embassy in Venezuela and the royal palace in Madrid could not be reached for comment Sunday.

In comments published by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Chavez recalled his spat with the monarch. "They had to rein in the King and he got very mad, like a bull," Chavez was quoted as saying. "But I'm a great bullfighter — ole!"

Chavez, who faces violent protests at home against proposed constitutional reforms that would greatly boost his power, said the incident had been exaggerated by the media.

"I hope this will not damage relations," Chavez said as he left his Santiago hotel room Sunday morning. "But I think it's imprudent for a king to shout at a president to shut up."

"Mr. King, we are not going to shut up," he said.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g...zTBlAD8SRPLL80

Am I crazy, or does Chavez seem to rant about his coup quite a bit?

[Hazir]

Originally Posted by Dreadnaught

For everyone to see...



Am I crazy, or does Chavez seem to rant about his coup quite a bit?

It's a convenient excuse for him to use against any opposition.

As a matter of fact what's not so clear is that the microphone of Chavez had already been cut off. It was only when he kept on with his rave after that that JC lashed out at him.

[Dreadnaught]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUZxlXkbaxM&

[Hazir]

Originally Posted by Dreadnaught

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUZxlXkbaxM&

It's interesting to see that there are no negative comments on what JC did.

[AR81]

Well, you are with Carlos because you do not understand the reality of Latin America.

Being defiant before Spain is for Latin Americans like independence is for US citizens.

Chavez might have wanted to get Carlos on his nerves, and he did it.
Kings are a symbol of slavery for Latin Americans.
For venezuelans Bolivar is like Washington, a symbol of freedom.

So being defiant before Carlos is just as popular as when US president or UK minister attack terrorism with strong words in a speech.

So if you ask me, Carlos screwed up deeply.
Now Chavez will be seen by his people like a hero, for it was supposed that Aznar had plans for a failed attempt to put down Venezuela's regime.
Venezuelans love sovereignity and independence and freedom.
So it tells Venezuelans that Spain has still the desire to conquer Venezuela...
Freedom fighters will now be against Spanish plans to put down Chavez regime.

Carlos screwed it up badly...

[Phobas]

if that is so, and it probably is, then his people are idiots.

Chavez was acting like a kid at the grownups tables and was duly dismissed.

[AR81]

Chavez is taking property away from middle and high class, and give it to poor people. He is creating a group of followers around him, those who have the lowest education (not exactly idiots) and turning them into loyal followers.

Just like US or UK leaders look for foreign enemies to keep people distracted from internal crisis, Chavez also is doing that.

From a human point of view, Chavez attitude was insolent. Carlos said what I would. but politics is a different world.
From a political point of view, Chavez achieved his objective and had a gain. Carlos screwed it up.

For Latin Americans, colonialism is what terrorism is to people in US or UK.
Label a foreigner as "terrorist" and you will have the same rejection on people as if the foreigner is labeled as "colonialist" (or any similar term) in Latin America.

[Loki]

Does it really matter what the Venezuelans think? Chavez is on the verge of appointing himself President for Life, so it's not like he really cares what they think.

[AR81]

I recall an Australian who was travelling across American continent to raise funds for charity. Americans are seen as "colonialist imperialism". And the australian guy had people in Venezuela throwing stones at him and people yelled "fuera, gringo" (get out, gringo) along the road.

After the reaction of Carlos, my bet is that people there will yell at spanish people "fuera conquistadores".

The key of Castro's power is the fact that he has a group of faithful people, followers, helping him.
My bet is Chavez goes for the same road.

During french occupation germans didn't have population supporting them, so allied pilots could get away.
In Iraq, US does not have support of population. Therefore US forces can't control the country.

Chavez is gaining their support. So even in country areas, if someone plans something against him, he may know it.
No foreigner could beat that.