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Spanish king, Venezuelan president make peace

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King Juan Carlos and President Hugo Chavez patched up their differences Friday in their first meeting since the Spanish monarch told the Venezuelan president to "shut up" at a summit last year.

The king, wearing a light gray suit and pink tie, shook hands and patted Chavez's arm when the Venezuelan leader arrived -- one hour late -- at the Marivent Palace, his summer residence in the Balearic island of Majorca in the Mediterranean.

"Why don't we go to the beach," joked Chavez, saying he felt as if he was in Cuba or Jamaica because of the heat.

The light-hearted exchange drew a line under the brief diplomatic spat that began last November at the Ibero-American summit in Santiago, Chile when the king told Chavez, "Why don't you shut up."

Chavez had repeatedly interrupted Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero during a speech and called former conservative Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar a "fascist."

The king's outburst became a catchphrase in the Spanish speaking world which appeared on T-shirts and was even turned into a mobile phone ring-tone that was downloaded by millions of people.

Chavez told journalists at a later press conference in Madrid with Zapatero that he had jokingly told Juan Carlos that the king owed him some money because of the popularity of the "shut-up" catchphrase.

"We caused a furore with this event, it will remain as a good memory, something that we will laugh about for the rest of our lives every time we see each other," he said.

Chavez added that the king had even given him a T-shirt bearing the famous phrase and said he had invited both Juan Carlos and Zapatero to visit Venezuela, a former Spanish colony, next year.

This was all very different from the days following the outburst, when Chavez accused Juan Carlos of arrogance and threatened to review the business of all Spanish companies in Venezuela unless the monarch issued an apology.

The strained ties between Madrid and Caracas began to ease after Zapatero invited Chavez to visit Spain when the two leaders met on the sidelines of a summit of European Union and Latin American leaders held in May in Peru.

"This was a very positive meeting, I am very pleased with what is going on today between Venezuela and Spain," Zapatero said after talks with Chavez.

The two men discussed immigration and the possibility of holding of a business forum between Spanish and Venezuelan firms, Zapatero said.

Spain is a major investor in oil-rich Venezuela. Major Spanish firms like bank BBVA and oil firm Repsol have poured millions of euros into the Latin American country in recent years.

Chavez said he had agreed during his visit to allow Repsol to boost its presence in the Junin-7 block of the Orinoco oil belt in eastern Venezuela.

"In this field there must be between 20 and 30 billion barrels of crude reserves," he said in an interview broadcast on state television TVE. "You have oil supplies guaranteed for 100 years because Venezuela has oil for 200 years."

Venezuela also agreed Friday to sell Spain 10,000 barrels of oil per day at $100 a barrel in exchange for medicine and other goods, a Spanish government source said.

Spain would make up the difference between the market price for oil and the price charged by Venezuela, a former Spanish colony, by providing the country with building material, new technologies and medicine, the source said.

Chavez said relations between Venezuela and Spain had been "fully normalized" with his visit.

"We have closed a chapter and are opening, have opened, another chapter. And I am certain that after the reconciliation better times are ahead," he told TVE.

His visit to Spain was the last stop of a tour of Europe that has already taken in Russia, Belarus and Portugal.

© AFP

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

9 Comments
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"when the Venezuelan leader arrived—one hour late—" It's called Chavez time.

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Chavez is one of those enchanting and charismatic men in politics like Obama and Fidel Castro. He is one of the men everybody has to consider in politics.

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Good for El Rey

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Hugo is still a jackass.

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Good.

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because Chavez has oil it gives him some staying power. Fidel had the russians.

Venezuela used to be such a progressive country until the riots in the mid 90's, then they set their clocks back 3 decades.

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Chavez may have his crude side, but he is no fool and he has a sense of humor as well. That is very important in international relations. It is good to see the two leaders/countries can still get along.

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I'm glad see they worked this out. < :-)

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I loved his "Ayer, fue el Diablo aqui!" speech at the UN. Pity they didn't show the 10 minute standing ovation!

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