Spain's governing party says king was right to tell Chavez to 'shut up'

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Spain's king was right to tell Hugo Chavez to "shut up" at a summit because the Venezuelan president had insulted Spain's former prime minister, the governing party said Monday. 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 Socialist Party. "This is a fundamental, democratic principle, one that governs relations between countries," Lopez Garrido told a news conference. The spat arose Saturday at an Ibero-American summit in Santiago, Chile, when Chavez accused Aznar of backing a 2002 coup that briefly removed Chavez from power. Chavez repeatedly called Aznar a "fascist" in an address at the summit of leaders from Latin America, Spain and Portugal.