International   

A royal command

Madrid: When Hugo Chavez is in full flow, politicians and diplomats know better than to try and cut him dead. But not kings. As the Venezuelan president was in mid-harangue, excoriating his “fascist” foes at a summit of leaders from the Latin world, Juan Carlos, the Spanish monarch, could take no more. He flashed a withering look at the president and uttered five words likely to go down in diplomatic history: “Why don’t you shut up?”

The stunning breach of protocol, did shut up the socialist revolutionary. For about two seconds. Then he regained his voice. However brief, it was a moment Chavez’s detractors have dreamed of: the comeuppance, as they see it, of a motormouth autocrat who regularly obliges all of Venezuela’s television stations to broadcast his marathon speeches.

Venezuela’s opposition gleefully portrayed Saturday encounter at an Ibero-American summit in Santiago, Chile, as a humiliation. People gave each other the high-five and replayed the scene over and over. The president’s supporters were indignant and said the king was the one humiliated because he lost his temper.

Cuba’s Fidel Castro issued a statement backing his ally. “Chavez’s criticism of Europe was devastating.”

Chavez prompted the row by calling the former Spanish prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, a “fascist” who supported a 2002 coup against him. When the current Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, defended his predecessor as a legitimately elected leader, Chavez repeatedly interrupted, even though his microphone was off.

It was at this point that the king, seated beside Zapatero, intervened. He used the familiar form “tu” rather than the more formal “usted”.

Most Spanish newspapers applauded the rebuff. “The king fulfilled his role, given that the Venezuelan president crossed the line,” said El Pais.

Chavez complained of disrespect by a hereditary leader. “The king is a head of state like me, only that I have been elected three times with 63% support.”

(Copyright: Guardian News & Media 2007)

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Pakistan facing Commonwealth sanctions
Factor in Sinhala nationalism: report
Five killed in Hamas-Fatah clash in Gaza
Call to reduce emissions
U.S. asks Musharraf to lift Emergency
Benazir firm on long march
N-arms in secure hands: Pakistan
Bangladesh joins Trans-Asian Railway network
Elected President
War crimes charges
Detained Indian workers to get legal assistance
A royal command

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu