http://www.timesofoman.com/echoice.asp?detail=12039&rand=XLFlKHreehCpqiviSEmMP22nJL#
Chavez to Spanish king: apologize or risk business
Reuters
Wednesday, November 14, 2007 12:13:34 PM Oman Time
CARACAS -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez demanded on Tuesday Spain's king
apologize for telling him to shut up, warning that Spanish investments could
suffer in its former colony because of the spat.
Chavez, who railed against imperialism and capitalism, named banks Santander
and BBVA as possible targets, saying the OPEC nation did not need Spanish
business.
"The king lost it," Chavez said at a late-night political rally. "He should
say, '... I, the king, confess, I was beside myself, I made a mistake.'"
At the weekend, King Juan Carlos told Chavez to shut up at a summit of leaders
from Latin America and Iberia when the Venezuelan leftist interrupted a speech
by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
The controversy has tested relations with Spain, sparked headlines around the
world and eclipsed debate in Venezuela over Chavez's effort to win approval in
a Dec. 2 referendum to expand his powers, including scrapping term limits.
"Whatever has been privatized can be taken back, we can take it back," Chavez
said earlier at a news conference. "If the government of Spain or the state of
Spain ... start to generate a conflict, things are not going to go well."
Spain, a top investor in Venezuela and the rest of Latin America, sought to
ease tensions through diplomatic channels. "We are fully convinced that due to
action being taken on all sides it will be possible in a relatively ... short
time, to return ties to normal," Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said.
Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica is also a major mobile phone
operator in the South American country. Chavez, who has been nationalizing
swaths of the economy,
took over the biggest phone company in Venezuela and also threatened to seize
the whole banking sector this year as he tries to create a socialist state.
Spanish businesses have invested $2.4 billion in Venezuela since Chavez took
office in 1999, according to Spain's Business and Commerce Council.
Grupo Santander has some $700 million in investment in Venezuela, while Banco
Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA has $670 million invested, according to figures
provided by the companies.
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