Spanish king, Venezuelan president make peace

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

MADRID (AFP) — King Juan Carlos and President Hugo Chavez patched up their differences Friday in their first meeting since the Spanish monarch told the Venezuelan president to "shut up" at a summit last year.

The king, wearing a light grey suit and pink tie, shook hands and patted Chavez's arm when the Venezuelan leader arrived -- one hour late -- at the Marivent Palace, his summer residence in the Balearic island of Majorca in the Mediterranean.

"Why don't we go to the beach," joked Chavez, saying he felt as if he was in Cuba or Jamaica because of the heat.

The light-hearted exchange drew a line under the brief diplomatic spat that began last November at the Ibero-American summit in Santiago, Chile when the king told Chavez, "Why don't you shut up."

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