During the closing meeting, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez levelled insults on the previous conservative prime minister of Spain, Jose Maria Aznar, calling him a fascist and added that "fascists are not human. A snake is more human."
While Aznar was noted for his strong support of Bush and is the political opposite of the left-leaning socialist current Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, that didn't stop Zapatero from defending his predecessor in a speech that drew applause from some participants during his turn at the microphone.
"Former Prime Minister Aznar was democratically elected by the Spanish people and was a legitimate representative of the Spanish people."
"I want to express to you President Hugo Chavez that in a forum where there are democratic governments ... one of the essential principles is respect."
"You can disagree radically, without being disrespectful."
However Chavez being his usual uncouth self tried a few times to interrupt Zapatero's speech even though his microphone was not on.
In the end, I guess he pissed some people off royally (unsurprising) because King Juan Carlos of Spain, who was seated next to Zapatero, leaned forward and exclaimed angrily to Chavez, "Why don't you shut up!" ("Por qué no te callas!" in Spanish) before leaving.
Chavez did not immediately respond, but later used time given to him by his close ally Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega to answer Zapatero's speech.
"The Venezuelan government reserves the right to respond to any aggression, anywhere, in any space and in any manner."
Hmmm... Even when you're the cause of the outburst? *tsk tsk tsk*
Check out the report and video clip of the above on BBC News.
Gosh, Chavez really comes across as a spoilt, petulant and unrepentant child more than an elected representative of a country. And when a president is the head of state and government of a country, his behaviour really reflects badly on Venezuela and its people.
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