CHILE: Venezuelan President Chavez fires back at Spanish king Juan Carlos calling him a "wild bull" for telling him to "shut up" during summit meeting

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez criticizes Spanish King Juan Carlos for telling him to "shut up" during the Ibero-American summit. He compares the King to a "wild bull", but says he hopes the incident does not damage relations with the European country. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez criticized on Sunday (November 11) the King of Spain, one day after the King told Chavez to shut up during the Ibero-American summit. A frustrated King Juan Carlos lost his temper during the final session of the 17th Ibero-American Summit as Chavez attempted to interrupt a statement by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. The King shouted at Chavez "Why don't you shut up?" Chavez spoke about the incident to journalists outside his hotel before leaving Chile on Sunday. "In truth we are democrats and we believe in freedom of though and in the freedom of expression. Now, no one comes to a summit to tell us "Don't say that, shut up, shut up already, blah blah blah, just a moment blah blah blah. Here there are no Latin American monarchs. Here, we are all equal," he said. The Venezuelan leader admitted he wanted to maintain relations with Spain, but remained defiant. "Now I hope that this does not damage relations, but it seems to me very sharp that a King comes to shout at a president "shut up". No, King. No, we are not going to shut up," he said. He added that a head of state should try to maintain his composure and compared Juan Carlos to a wild bull. "I never saw the King, much less heard him. Afterwards, they told me that they had to hold him as if he were a wild bull. If he gets away, I am not a bullfighter, but I - ole! I am not a bullfighter," he said. Chavez spoke to journalists for more than an hour and discussed ongoing protests against his proposed constitutional reforms. He did not seem fazed by the almost daily demonstrations. "While 300,000 revolutionaries march, 3,000 contra-revolutionaries are marching, but the news is of the march of the contra-revolutionaries and that it almost alwaysin violence. Fortunately yesterday, they had a march that was fewer people than last week," he said. He also said that he and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe held discussions at the summit. The two leaders recently forged a tenuous alliance to help secure the release of Colombia hostages being held by left-wing rebels. Chavez said it was a slow process, but moving in the right direction. "I spoke to Uribe here a lot - two and a half hours. We moved forward a little, we moved forward a little. Now, you understand that this is how to advance when you want to walk and there is a strong wind against you. A strong wind, but you have to face it with much intelligence and look for an exit," he said. Following the news conference, the Venezuelan leader got on a plane back to Venezuela.

ITN Source | November 12, 2007

Tags:. .session. .process. .prime. .heard. .european