CARACAS (Thomson Financial) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he is freezing relations with Spain until he obtains an apology from King Juan Carlos over the latter’s role in a diplomatic spat between the pair.
The king told Chavez to ‘shut up’ after the Venezuelan leader, speaking at a regional summit in Chile, referred to former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar as a fascist.
‘I am freezing relations with Spain until the king of Spain has apologised,’Chavez said at the weekend, without specifying the impact of his decision on bilateral diplomatic or business links.
Chavez’s comment followed Juan Carlos’ first visit earlier this month to Spain’s North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, which Morocco regards as occupied Moroccan territory.
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