Deserved royal putdown for Chavez

It was about time somebody told Venezuela's dictatorial president Hugo Chavez to behave himself. And there was nobody more qualified than King Juan Carlos of Spain. The king put Mr. Chavez in his place at a summit of Latin American and Iberian leaders in Santiago, Chile, last weekend by asking him, "Why do you not shut up?"

It was a remark that so many people who have suffered Mr. Chavez' vulgar verbosity must have wanted to say on countless occasions, but held back. The Venezuelan leader, who used the podium of the United Nations to call George W. Bush "the devil" and never misses an opportunity to insult the U.S. president, was quite put out when the king treated him as he deserved, addressing him in the familiar form of the Spanish language that is reserved for children, pets and very close friends.

President Chavez had just called Spain's former prime minister Jose Maria Aznar a fascist. The king gave his crushing rejoinder and walked out.

It was a significant encounter, because it is thanks to King Juan Carlos that Spain is a democracy. As a young king he was groomed to continue the fascist regime of Francisco Franco after the dictator's demise, but Juan Carlos sprang a surprise and led his nation to democracy.

By contrast, Mr. Chavez, who was democratically elected, is leading Venezuela down the path to dictatorship, while squandering the South American nation's oil wealth.

The day after he was told off by the king, Mr. Chavez called a press conference in which he threatened to retaliate for the royal snub. "Spain has many investments, private companies here and we don't want to damage that, but if they are damaged, they are damaged. Spanish investment in Venezuela is not indispensable. ... We don't need it."

He went on to say that "it's imprudent for a king to shout at a president to shut up. Mr. King, we are not going to shut up."

With four words in Spanish, "porque no te callas?", the down-to-earth king demolished a pretentious president who behaves like a petty despot.