Spanish king, Venezuelan president make peace

[Judi Lynn]

Spanish king, Venezuelan president make peace
by Gabriel Rubio
16 minutes ago

MADRID (AFP) - King Juan Carlos and President Hugo Chavez patched up their differences Friday in their first meeting since the Spanish monarch told the Venezuelan president to "shut up" at a summit last year.

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Chavez told journalists at a later press conference in Madrid with Zapatero that he had jokingly told Juan Carlos that the king owed him some money because of the popularity of the "shut-up" catchphrase.

"We caused a furore with this event, it will remain as a good memory, something that we will laugh about for the rest of our lives every time we see each other," he said.

Chavez added that the king had even given him a T-shirt bearing the famous phrase and said he had invited both Juan Carlos and Zapatero to visit Venezuela, a former Spanish colony, next year.

This was all very different from the days following the outburst, when Chavez accused Juan Carlos of arrogance and threatened to review the business of all Spanish companies in Venezuela unless the monarch issued an apology.

The strained ties between Madrid and Caracas began to ease after Zapatero invited Chavez to visit Spain when the two leaders met on the sidelines of a summit of European Union and Latin American leaders held in May in Peru.

More:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080725/wl_afp/spainvenezuelapoliticsdiplomacy;_ylt=A0WTcVYYQopIGBIBDBpvaA8F