Spain echoes king's quip

Spain echoes king's quip

Spaniards rallied behind King Juan Carlos yesterday, with citizens and even the left-leaning governing party saying the king was right to tell Hugo Chavez to "shut up" at a weekend summit. The king's remark, prompted when the Venezuelan president insulted Spain's conservative former prime minister, was discussed by bloggers, laughed about in the streets and even turned into a joke competition by one Web site. Juan Carlos' five-word message to Mr. Chavez — translated from Spanish as "Why don't you shut up?" — has been posted on YouTube and already is in wide use as a ring tone for cell phones, according to the El Pais newspaper. Someone even turned the Spanish phrase into an Internet domain name at porquenotecallas.com Blogs around Spain yesterday were full of discussion of the tense moment that took place at the Ibero-American summit in Santiago, Chile, on Saturday. "Ole for King Juan Carlos I," wrote one blogger, saying he was proud of the king. Another, writing from Argentina, said it is "shameful to see how rude and insolent Chavez is. He is a loudmouth. Finally someone did what should be done to loudmouths. Thank you King Juan Carlos." Only a few supported the Venezuelan leader. One blogger wrote it was about time someone told Juan Carlos and the former prime minister the truth, and accused them of being complicit in the "genocide" in Iraq. Large numbers of people visited YouTube to view the exchange, in which Mr. Chavez repeatedly interrupted Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero until he was silenced by the king. Spain wants good relations with Latin American countries but will not tolerate a lack of respect for its citizens, in this case a prominent one like former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, said Diego Lopez Garrido, spokesman in Parliament for the ruling Socialist Party. "This is a fundamental, democratic principle, one that governs relations between countries," Mr. Lopez Garrido said at a news conference. At Saturday's summit, Mr. Chavez accused Mr. Aznar of backing a 2002 coup that briefly removed the Venezuelan leader from power. Mr. Chavez repeatedly called Mr. Aznar a "fascist" during the meeting of leaders from Latin America, Spain and Portugal. Spain's current prime minister, Mr. Zapatero, asked Mr. Chavez to be more diplomatic and show respect for other leaders, despite political differences. "President Hugo Chavez, I think there is an essential principle to dialogue, and that is to respect and be respected. We should be careful not to fall into insults," Mr. Zapatero said. Mr. Chavez continued to interrupt as Mr. Zapatero spoke, though his microphone was off. A frustrated Juan Carlos, seated next to Mr. Zapatero, leaned toward Mr. Chavez and loudly asked, "Por que no te callas?" — or "Why don't you shut up?" The monarch then left the chamber. Mr. Aznar later called to thank Mr. Zapatero for defending him, Mr. Lopez Garrido said. Mr. Chavez fueled the dispute further Sunday by suggesting the king knew in advance about the 2002 coup. Spanish royal palace officials were not available for comment yesterday. During the two-day coup in April 2002, Mr. Aznar called interim Venezuelan President Pedro Carmona, and the Spanish ambassador to Venezuela met with Mr. Carmona. Mr. Chavez was restored to power after massive street protests. Mr. Aznar later told the Spanish Parliament he discussed with Mr. Carmona arrangements for Mr. Chavez to go to Cuba. Mr. Aznar's party, however, insists that the conservative government then in power did not back the coup. But Spain's current foreign minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, charged in December 2004 that Mr. Aznar had in fact given the putsch his diplomatic blessing. Mr. Moratinos cited diplomatic cables from the period and other government documents.