ANALYSIS: Chavez hands Spain a bitter Iberian American Summit

Nov 11, 2007, 0:53 GMT

Santiago - Spain's King Juan Carlos had never left a session at the Iberian American Summit early and annoyed, despite attending the gathering 16 times, but he did just that Saturday in Santiago, in a move that symbolizes the bad time Spain had at this year's meeting.

First, talks broke down Friday in a bilateral conflict between Argentina and Uruguay - over the installation of a paper mill on the Uruguayan bank of a common river. Spain had been serving as a mediator in the conflict.

One day later as the summit came to a close, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez got into a heated argument that led to Juan Carlos leaving the meeting.

The summit could have served as a break for Juan Carlos, after a complicated visit to Spain's North African territories, Ceuta and Melilla, earlier this week and the resulting anger of Morocco.

But things turned out quite differently, when he got involved in the disagreement between Zapatero and Chavez. Juan Carlos, who is the only leader who has never missed an Iberian American summit since the gatherings started in 1991, showed his annoyance with Chavez and broke all protocol.

Chavez had been spicing up the summit since Friday, when he accused Spanish businessmen of having backed the 2002 coup against him in Venezuela, and Saturday included former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar in the accusation.

Zapatero then told Chavez that a basic rule of public life is 'to refer to others in a respectful way, even if they are one's ideological opposites.'

'Former prime minister Aznar was elected by the Spanish people. I demand, I demand respect,' Zapatero said, as Chavez interrupted him.

The king then got into the tussle, asking Chavez, 'Why don't you shut up?'

The summit, intended to focus on social cohesiveness, was marked by tension among many of the leaders present, even though host Chilean President Michelle Bachelet tried to tone down some of the drama.

'Debate should not scare anybody,' Bachelet said.

'I hope this is the last time, I hope this is the last time,' said Zapatero.

Spain also left the summit in Santiago with talks between Argentina and Uruguay suspended. Although Spain was only a mediator in the conflict, it found itself in the middle when Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez decided to commence operations of the controversial paper mill during the summit.

Spain has strong economic interests in Latin America - too strong to let these disputes affect its relations with the region, and Juan Carlos returned to the summit session in time for the ceremony that marks the formal end of the summit.