Venezuela's Chavez lashes back at Spanish king for telling him to 'shut up'

[Purveyor]

SANTIAGO, Chile — President Hugo Chavez lashed back at Spain's king Sunday for telling him to "shut up" during a summit, suggesting the monarch knew in advance of a 2002 coup that briefly ousted the Venezuelan leader from power.

Chavez claimed that Spain's ambassador had backed interim president Pedro Carmona and appeared at Venezuela's presidential palace during the two-day coup in 2002. He demanded to know how deeply King Juan Carlos had been involved.

"Mr. King, did you know about the coup d'etat against Venezuela, against the democratic, legitimate government of Venezuela in 2002?" Chavez said before reporters in Santiago. "It's very hard to imagine the Spanish ambassador would have been at the presidential palace supporting the coup plotters without authorization from his majesty."

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Chavez regularly accuses Washington of helping orchestrate the 2002 coup against him — a charge U.S. officials deny. U.S. and Spanish ambassadors did meet with Carmona and his newly appointed foreign minister on April 13, 2002, hours before Chavez was restored to power following massive demonstrations.

Officials at the Spanish Embassy in Venezuela and the royal palace in Madrid could not immediately be reached for comment Sunday.

In comments published by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Chavez recalled his spat with the monarch. "They had to rein in the King and he got very mad, like a bull," Chavez was quoted as saying. "But I'm a great bullfighter — ole!"

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