SPAIN:When Hugo Chavez is in full flow, politicians and diplomats know better than to try and cut him dead. But not kings.
As the Venezuelan president was in mid-harangue, excoriating his "fascist" foes at a summit of leaders from the Latin world in Santiago, Chile, Juan Carlos, the Spanish monarch, could take no more.
He flashed a withering look at the president and uttered five words likely to go down in diplomatic history: "Why don't you shut up?"
The stunning breach of protocol did shut up the socialist revolutionary; for about two seconds. Then he regained his voice.
Venezuela's opposition gleefully portrayed Saturday's encounter as a humiliation. But Cuba's Fidel Castro issued a statement backing his ally.
Chavez prompted the row by calling former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar a "fascist". When the current Spanish prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, defended his predecessor as a legitimately elected leader, Chavez repeatedly interrupted, even though his microphone was off. It was at this point that the king intervened. He used the familiar form "tu" rather than the more formal "usted".
Most Spanish newspapers applauded the rebuff. "The king fulfilled his role, given that the Venezuelan president crossed the line," said El Pais.