[R-G] Chavez Blasts the Spanish King

[Anthony Fenton]

November 13, 2007
Playing the Nationalist Card
Chavez Blasts the Spanish King

By NIKOLAS KOZLOFF
http://counterpunch.org/kozloff11132007.html

It's been almost two hundred years since Venezuela first declared its  
independence from Spain, but over the past few days Hugo Chávez  
stoked Venezuelan nationalism again by attacking King Juan Carlos of  
Spain. The spat, which could damage diplomatic relations between the  
two nations, began over the weekend during a hemispheric summit held  
in Santiago, Chile, during which Chávez called ex-Spanish Prime  
Minister José María Aznar a "fascist." In one of his typical  
rhetorical flourishes, Chávez added, "fascists are not human. A snake  
is more human."

Moving to damp down the escalating rhetoric, Spanish Prime Minister  
José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero then remarked: "[Former Prime Minister]  
Aznar was democratically elected by the Spanish people and was a  
legitimate representative of the Spanish people." Insensed, Chávez  
wouldn't let go. Though his microphone was turned off, the Venezuelan  
leader repeatedly tried to interrupt.

Finally, Juan Carlos leaned forward and said, "Why don't you shut  
up?" According to reports, in addressing Chávez Juan Carlos did not  
use the formal mode of address in Spanish known as usted but rather  
the familiar form or tú, which is generally reserved for close  
acquaintances or children, not a head of state.

Aznar and the 2002 Coup

The summit ended in fiasco, as Juan Carlos stormed out of the meeting  
while Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega rushed to embrace and defend  
Chávez. Meanwhile, Chávez said the king was "imprudent" and asked if  
Juan Carlos knew in advance of the brief coup against him in April,  
2002. As he left Santiago, Chávez openly questioned whether Spain's  
ambassador had appeared with Venezuelan interim president Pedro  
Carmona during the 2002 coup with Juan Carlos's blessing.

"Mr King, did you know about the coup d'etat against Venezuela,  
against the democratic, legitimate government of Venezuela in 2002?"  
he asked. "It's very hard to imagine the Spanish ambassador would  
have been at the presidential palace supporting the coup plotters  
without authorisation from his majesty," he insinuated. The Spanish  
paper El Mundo quoted Chávez as saying that the king had "got very  
mad, like a bull. But I'm a great bullfighter - olé!" The Venezuelan  
firebrand added, "I think it's imprudent for a king to shout at a  
president to shut up. Mr King, we are not going to shut up."

Though Chávez enjoys warm ties to the socialist Zapatero, the  
Venezuelan leader has long lambasted the previous Spanish regime.  
During Bush's first term the United States enjoyed a willing foreign  
partner in Spain. José María Aznar, who had reorganized Spanish  
conservatives into the People's Party (Partido Popular or PP) had  
been Prime Minister of Spain since 1996. Though Chávez exaggerated in  
calling Aznar a fascist, the Spanish politician's family certainly  
had clear fascist ties. Aznar's grandfather, in fact, served as  
Franco's ambassador to Morocco and the United Nations and his father  
was a pro-Franco journalist.

In 2002, Aznar was Washington's willing ally in opposing Chávez.  
Prior to the April 12 coup, Venezuelan businessman Carmona visited  
high level government officials in Madrid as well as prominent  
Spanish businessmen. Though it's unclear whether Juan Carlos gave his  
blessing as Chávez suggested, once the coup had been carried out  
Carmona called Aznar and met with the Spanish ambassador in Caracas,  
Manuel Viturro de la Torre. The Spanish ambassador was accompanied at  
the meeting by the U.S. Ambassador, Charles Shapiro. As Chávez  
languished in a military barracks during the coup, PP parliamentary  
spokesman Gustavo de Arístegui wrote an article in the Spanish  
newspaper El Mundo supporting the coup. According to anonymous  
diplomatic sources who spoke with Inter Press Service, the Spanish  
foreign ministry holds documents which reveal the Spanish role. The  
documents reportedly prove that de la Torre had written instructions  
from the Aznar government to recognize Carmona as the new president  
of Venezuela.

Diplomatic Fall Out

The diplomatic tit-for-tat continued after the coup. After defeating  
the coup attempt, Chávez detained the president of Fedecámaras,  
Carlos Fernández, who was accused of helping to foment a lock out  
which reduced oil output in 2002-03. Fernández was charged with  
inciting unrest and sedition. In February 2003 Ana Palacio, the  
Spanish Minister of External Affairs, criticized the detention.  
During his Sunday radio and TV show, Chávez angrily shot back that  
Spain should not interfere in Venezuela's internal affairs. "We must  
respect each other," said Chávez. "Don't get involved in our things  
and we won't involve ourselves in your things. Is it necessary to  
remember that the Spanish ambassador was here applauding the April  
coup?" Chávez added, "Aznar, please, each one in his own place."

The diplomatic chill continued late into 2003 when Aznar criticized  
Chávez for adopting "failed models" like those of Cuba's Fidel  
Castro. Chávez retorted that Aznar's statements were "unacceptable"  
and added that "perhaps Aznar thinks he is Fernando VII and we are  
still a colony. No, Carabobo [a battle of independence] already  
happened. Aznar, Ayacucho [another battle during the wars of  
independence] already occurred. The Spanish empire was already thrown  
out of here almost 200 years ago Aznar. Let those who stick their  
noses in Venezuela take note that we will not accept it." In a  
further snub Chávez stated that Aznar should respond to the Spanish  
public which protested PP support for the invasion of Iraq. "He  
should definitely take responsibility for that," Chávez concluded.

Miguel Angel Moratinos, the Spanish Foreign Minister, has accused the  
previous PP administration of supporting the failed coup d'etat  
against Chávez in April 2002. Speaking on the Spanish TV program 59  
Segundos, Moratinos remarked that Aznar's policy in Venezuela "was  
something unheard of in Spanish diplomacy, the Spanish ambassador  
received instructions to support the coup." Before the cameras  
Moratinos declared, "That won't happen in the future, because we  
respect the popular will." Adding fuel to the fire Chávez remarked "I  
have no doubt that it [the Spanish involvement] happened. It was a  
very serious error on the part of the former government." Chávez  
declared that Venezuela had no problem with the PP nor with Spain,  
and that for a brief moment the two countries enjoyed good relations.  
But later Aznar's political as well as personal views changed. "With  
Aznar," Chávez stated memorably, "there was neither chemistry, nor  
physics, nor math."

Needless to say, Chávez's retort to Juan Carlos has not been embraced  
by all. In Spain, the press has rushed to defend the King against  
Chávez, while the Spanish community in Venezuela called for a protest  
march against the President. Peru and Chile, strong U.S. allies in  
the region, have also expressed support for Juan Carlos and have  
criticized Chávez's reaction at the summit.

Still, Chávez has gained welcome political mileage from the incident,  
which has stoked unpleasant memories of Spanish monarchical rule.  
United Left, a Spanish political party, qualified Juan Carlos'  
statements as "excessive." Willy Meyer, spokesperson for the party,  
said that Juan Carlos behaved as if he was still in the 15th or 16th  
centuries. "The King can't tell the Spanish President to shut up," he  
said, "and doesn't have the right to do this to others outside of  
Spain."

For the past eight years, Chávez has sought to build up the cult of  
Simón Bolívar, a Venezuelan who liberated the country from Spanish  
rule. Books on Bolívar are selling like hotcakes in Caracas, hardly  
surprising in light of the political importance which Chávez has  
attached to Bolívar in his public speeches. By attacking Juan Carlos,  
Chávez may cast himself as a true Venezuelan patriot fighting against  
the domineering attitude of the old Spanish Empire. It's a move that  
plays well to the Chavista base and Venezuelans' sense of national  
pride.

Nikolas Kozloff is the author of Hugo Chavez: Oil, Politics, and the  
Challenge to the U.S. His new book, Revolution! South America and the  
Rise of the New Left will be released in April, 2008 with Palgrave- 
Macmillan.