King to Hugo: Shut UP!

The big news out of Spain this week is that King Juan Carlos told Hugo Chavez to shut up -- actually, his exact words were "Why don't you shut up?" -- during an Ibero-American summit meeting in Santiago, Chile. Chavez was in mid-tirade, calling José María Aznar, Spain's conservative former prime minister, a fascist when the King's outburst occurred. Aznar, admittedly pretty facha, wasn't actually a fascist, and in the course of the skirmish, José Luís Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain's current Socialist prime minister, jumped to Aznar's defense, saying that Aznar was democratically elected by the people of Spain. The video of the King, who as you'll notice, uses the "tú" form to address Chavez, which as any Spanish 1 student will tell you is just not polite, and the ensuing rumble, is all over the Spanish language press. In addition, Aznar subsequently telephoned Rodríguez Zapatero for the first time since the latter trumped the former in the 2004 elections to thank his rival for defending him, prompting this video of puppets making out. Spain loves its guiñoles.

Chavez later took the time to strike back at the King playground-style by saying "¿Por qué no te callas tú, Rey?" ("Why don't you shut up, King?"). Awwww, snap!