Spanish and Latin American media have honed in on the argument between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and the Spanish leadership.
Spanish newspaper El Pais has called the disagreement “El Choque Del Rey y Chavez,” literally the crash between the King and Chavez.
The coverage follows outbursts made by Chavez at the Ibero-American Summitin Santiago, Chile this weekend that caused Spanish King Juan Carlos to leave the meeting.
The Venezuelan president called former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar a “fascist,” a sensitive term in the country that still remembers the 36-year military rule of General Francisco Franco.
The Spanish Minister of the Interior, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, has said that if Chavez wants a good relationship with Spain, he most show respect to King Juan Carlos, the current president Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and former leaders, such as Aznar.
The Spanish monarch at the summit asked Chavez why he would not “shut up” as Zapatero spoke.
According to BBC NEWS, Chavez now has responded by telling the king to shut up and by questioning his involvement in a coup that overthrew the Venezuelan president for two days in 2002.
Most of Chavez’s Latin American supporters, including Bolivian President Evo Morales, did not back up his comments at the summit.
However, Cuban leader Fidel Castro defended Chavez in a commentary published Sunday, according to The International Herald Tribune.
Castro, who has placed his brother Raul in control of the country during his illness, also criticized a speech made by the president of El Salvador defending a fair trade agreement.
“Capitalism is a system governed by blind, destructive and tyrannical laws that have been imposed on the human species,” Castro wrote.
Honestly, I’m not surprised to read about Chavez saying this type of thing. He seems to like to do outlandish things just for the sake of it sometimes.
From reading this post, I couldn’t tell what you thought about the news. I was hoping for a little more commentary on your end.
Great post! I really like the run down and your voice. Thanks also for providing some of the background elements in this dispute – especially the historical implications of throwing around the “f” word in a country like Spain.