Story Highlights
- historical event: The King of Spain turned to Chavez and said “¿Por qué no te callas?” (Why don’t you shut up?). The general audience applauded the king’s reaction. The king had never before displayed such resolution in public, so that all present were surprised.
On this day in 2007 there was an unusual incident at the Ibero-American Summit in Santiago (Chile). During a speech, Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero was interrupted several times by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Chavez rudely accused Zapatero’s predecessor Aznar for being a fascist and “less human than snakes”.
Although the organizers switched off Chávez’s microphone, he continued to interrupt the speech of the Spanish Prime Minister. At this, King of Spain turned to Chavez and said, “¿Por qué no te callas?” (Why don’t you shut up?). General audience applauded the king’s reaction. The king had never before displayed such resolution in public, so that all present were surprised. In Spain, the king’s phrase “¿Por qué no te callas?” gained cult status to the extent that it was widely used as a ringtone on mobile-phones and inscription on T-shirts.
