25 July 2008 - 21H35

Chavez makes amends with King of Spain
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez met with Spain's King Juan Carlos on Friday, their first meeting since last year's tiff in which the monarch told Chavez to "shut up."

MADRID, July 25 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
and Spain's King Juan Carlos shook hands and made up on Friday
in their first meeting since the monarch told the president to
"shut up" at a summit in November.
 

Venezuela could supply Spain with a limited amount of cheap
oil in return for investment in technology under the terms of a
deal discussed by the two sides.
 

A relaxed Chavez joked "Why don't we go to the beach?" as he
met the smiling king in sunshine outside the royals' summer
residence on the island of Majorca.
 

But the outspoken Venezuelan leader, dressed in a dark suit
and tie, failed to give the monarch a hug, after saying on his
weekly television show last Sunday he would like to.
 

Relations deteriorated between the two countries last year
after the king shouted at Chavez: "Why don't you shut up?" when
Chavez interrupted a speech by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero at the Ibero-American summit in Chile.
 

Footage of the outburst was beamed around the world,
inspiring mobile phone ringtones, mugs and T-shirts.
 

At a later news conference in Madrid on Friday, Chavez said
the king had given him a T-shirt depicting the incident during
their meeting.
 

"We caused a furore with that event. It (the T-shirt) is a
good souvenir, to laugh at for the rest of our lives every time
we see it," he said.
 

Chavez flew to Madrid from Majorca later on Friday for a
brief meeting with Zapatero and a working lunch to discuss
business ties between the two countries, possible collaboration
on energy and immigration.
 

During the lunch Chavez and Zapatero discussed a deal for
Venezuela to supply 10,000 barrels of crude oil per day to Spain
at $100 per barrel in exchange for technology and infrastructure
investment, a spokesman for the prime minister's office said.
 

Spanish businesses, including banks BBVA and Santander and
oil company Repsol have an estimated $2.4 billion invested in
the oil-rich country.
 

"Thank you for the warmth with which you have received us,"
Chavez said at a news conference on the steps of the prime
minister's residence in Madrid.
 

The king's November outburst came after Chavez called former
Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar of the conservative PP
party a "fascist", prompting Socialist Zapatero to ask for
respect for an elected representative.
 

Minutes later a grim-faced king rose from his seat and
stormed out of the forum.
 

Chavez later threatened to review diplomatic and business
ties with former colonial power Spain, a major investor in the
OPEC nation, and demanded a public apology from the king.
 

But relations have since thawed, with Chavez sending his
regards to the king during a meeting with Zapatero at a summit
in Peru in May.

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