Chavez reconciles with Germany and Spain

Caracas, Venezuela, 17 May 2008. A certain fact emerges from the conclusion of the 60 country  Latam-EU Summit held in Peru on Friday is the change in tone of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias toward Germany and Spain.

President Chavez and King of Spain Juan Carlos had a publicly dramatic spout of exchanges during and after the XVII Ibero-American Summit. During that international gathering, Chavez commented on the continuous critical statements made against him by former Spanish Prime Minister and Opus Dei member Jose Maria Arzar. Then, Chavez called Aznar a fascist and inhuman. Such remarks angered King Juan Carlos who asked President Chavez to shut up.   

Such odd order among Head of States made it to the headlines of international and local media quickly. It also incited local creativity and gossip in Spain and the whole region. Quite a few numbers of videos, jokes and ring tones on the incident were widely available on the net. However, such funny reinterpretation of events did not prevent the deterioration of bilateral relations between Spain and Venezuela. Chavez decided to freeze them since the XVII Ibero-American Summit. 

It is only now that direct talks resumed during the Latam-EU Summit. President Chavez and Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero held a bilateral encounter to overcome the diplomatic incident. Now, President Chavez and King of Spain might meet at ease during an incoming regional summit in El Salvador. 

 On the other hand, President Hugo Chavez rejected critics made by Chancellor Angela Merkel on his regional leadership during an interview with a German Newspaper. Chancellor Merkel not only challenged the representative voice of Chavez in Latin America politics but also asked other regional countries to distance themselves from the Venezuelan President. In reaction, Chavez questioned Merkel credentials and affiliations to German Nazism. Then, the Venezuelan government officially asked Germany to respect its Head of State. Thus, there was much expectation over their meeting during the Peru Summit. However, after shaking hand and kisses another view emerged. Regional leaders such as Brazil Lula Da Silva and Argentinean Fernandez had intervened to ease tensions. Their efforts produced good results. Chavez and Merkel met with graceful diplomatic smiles. However, German government readily denied allegations made by President Chavez on an invitation to visit Germany.  

Sources: VTV, Aljazeera, El País, Globovision, RNV,

Related stories:  Chavez angers King of Spain (updated III), Merkel and Chavez disagree on Latin America (readable version)