[NYTr] Chavez Wants an Apology from Spanish King Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:55:56 -0600 (CST) 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 exporter 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. (Reporting by Saul Hudson, editing by Jackie Frank) B) 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) b 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 B) 2007 AFP. All rights reserved * ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us Our main website: http://www.blythe.org List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ Subscribe: http://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr =================================================================