The king of Spain told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to "shut up" after the fiery leader repeatedly called a former Spanish prime minister a "fascist," ending a summit in spectacular fashion.
Chavez, who called US President George W. Bush the "devil" at the UN last year, triggered Saturday's exchange with harsh words for former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar, who has in the past criticized Chavez.
Aznar, who while prime minister was a close ally of Bush, "is a fascist," Chavez said during his speech at the Ibero-American summit in Santiago.
"Fascists are not human," he said. "A snake is more human."
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero responded during his own allotted time by urging Chavez to be more diplomatic in his words and respect other leaders.
"Former president Aznar was democratically elected by the Spanish people and was a legitimate representative of the Spanish people," he said, eliciting applause from the gathered heads of state.
"President Hugo Chavez, I think there is an essential principle to dialogue, and that is, to respect and be respected, we should be careful not to fall into insults," Zapatero said, noting the ideological differences he himself had with his conservative predecessor.
Chavez repeatedly tried to interrupt Zapatero, but his microphone was off.
Spanish King Juan Carlos, who was seated next to Zapatero, angrily turned to Chavez and said: "Why don't you shut up?"
The Venezuelan leader did not immediately respond, but later used time ceded to him by his close ally Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega to respond to Zapatero's speech.
"I do not offend by telling the truth. The Venezuelan government reserves the right to respond to any aggression, anywhere, in any space and in any tone," Chavez said.
The exchange overshadowed a three-day summit that ended with leaders pledging to fight poverty and increase regional cooperation. They signed an accord that will allow nearly 6 million migrant workers in Latin America, Spain and Portugal to transfer social security benefits between their nations.
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