This is just a quick blurb, ladies and gentlemen, and I apologize in advance to the non-Spanish speakers. At the Iberoamerican Conference in Chile today, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of Spain got into a little scuffle after Chavez continually interrupted Zapatero to make the point that his predecessor, President Jose Maria Aznar, was a “fascist” and several other derogatory, imperialist names. After Zapatero (a left-wing leader who denounced Aznar’s administration publicly many times) demanded respect for his predecessor and the Spanish people, quipping with formidable attitude that Aznar was a “democratic choice” and “some of the countries represented here are, actually, democracies”, for about a minute to no avail (Chavez continues to speak over him), Spanish King Juan Carlos I interrupts both of them, turns to Chavez vehemently, and yells “why don’t you just shut up?!” Chaos ensued until the relevant authorities simmered down the tempers of those involved.
This is just one of the many reasons why Juan Carlos I wins the award for “Best Monarch Ever”. He is a no-nonsense, straightforward kind of guy that has no problem reciprocating ill will to his enemies or putting anyone, even a sovereign leader, in their place. Here are two videos of Juan Carlos at his best: the first, the aforementioned incident with Chavez (sorry to non-Spanish speakers again), and the second, a jovial greeting to Basque separatists that came to boo the King at Vitoria-Gasteiz:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfSSQ9U5zZI]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nY3f3f07HQ]