Spanish prince, Chavez exchange pleasantries

By IANS

Buenos Aires : Spain’s Crown Prince Felipe and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez greeted each other here at a gala dinner hosted by the Argentine government for dignitaries attending the swearing-in of President Cristina Fernandez, an official Spanish source was quoted by EFE news agency as saying.


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The greeting – the first personal exchange after a spat between Chavez and the prince’s father, King Juan Carlos, at the Ibero-American Summit in Chile – came Sunday before dinner.

It was “absolutely relaxed and normal (greeting). The prince was impeccable, as always,” EFE quoted a diplomatic official as saying.

Meanwhile, Spain’s secretary of state for Ibero-America, Trinidad Jimenez, also spoke with the Venezuelan leader in what she described as a “brief and friendly” meeting.

The relation between Spain and Venezuela soured after an incident last month at the Ibero-American in Chile where the Spanish king asked Chavez to “shut up” when the later started speaking against the former Spanish prime minister.

Since then, Chavez has sought an apology from the king and threatened to review Spain’s investment in Venezuela, even while stressing that he does not want the incident to harm good bilateral ties.

Jimenez told reporters that she had spoken with Chavez about the need to “recover institutional respect between the two countries … (and about restoring) normality in the relations between Spain and Venezuela”.

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