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Letter to the editor

Spain's King to Chavez: 'Shut up'

By Times Wires
Published November 11, 2007

SANTIAGO, Chile   

The king of Spain told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to "shut up" Saturday during a heated exchange at a summit of leaders from Latin America, Spain and Portugal.

Chavez, who called President Bush the "devil" on the floor of the United Nations last year, triggered the exchange by repeatedly referring to former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar as a "fascist."

Aznar, a conservative who was an ally of Bush as prime minister, "is a fascist," Chavez said in a speech at the Ibero-American summit. "Fascists are not human. A snake is more human."

Spain's current socialist prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, responded during his own allotted time by urging Chavez to be more diplomatic in his words and respect other leaders despite political differences.

Chavez repeatedly tried to interrupt, but his microphone was off.

Spanish King Juan Carlos, seated next to Zapatero, angrily turned to Chavez and said, "Why don't you shut up?"

The Venezuelan leader did not immediately respond.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia

Election reform march broken up by police

Police fired tear gas Saturday to disperse hundreds of activists demanding electoral reforms in Malaysia's biggest antigovernment street protests in nearly a decade.

The demonstrators were stopped by a police cordon near a mosque in central Kuala Lumpur as they tried to march to a square. Police estimated the crowds at between 10,000 and 30,000.

Shouting "God is great," protesters fled when police fired tear gas and a water canon, many of them running into the mosque. When they re-emerged, police fired the water cannon again.

Protest organizers said 10 people were arrested, though there was no immediate confirmation from police. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The protest was organized by about 70 nongovernmental organizations and opposition political parties demanding reforms ahead of general elections widely expected for early next year.

They demanded the removal of phantom voters from electoral rolls, a crackdown on government workers using absentee ballots, access to state-controlled media by all political parties, and an end to vote-buying and other irregularities.

CAIRO

Egypt, Saudis back peace conference

Egypt and Saudi Arabia backed an upcoming U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference Saturday as a way to set the stage for a final agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, an Egyptian official said.

It was still unclear, however, whether the two countries would attend the conference, scheduled for late November in Annapolis, Md. Arab countries have been reluctant to commit to attending without guarantees that the meeting will yield firm results.

BEIRUT, Lebanon

Presidential election postponed by conflict

With just two weeks left before the president has to step down, Lebanon's parliament speaker on Saturday postponed presidential elections for the third time to give deadlocked rival factions more time to find a compromise candidate.

The 128-seat Parliament, dominated by anti-Syrian legislators, was scheduled to meet Monday for another attempt to choose a successor to pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, who steps down Nov. 24.

A September session failed to reach a quorum because of an opposition boycott, and an October attempt was postponed as negotiators struggled to find a compromise candidate.

OSTUACAN, Mexico

Two children raise flooding death toll

The deaths from massive flooding in southern Mexico rose to at least 19 on Saturday, after authorities found the bodies of two young girls, victims of a landslide and subsequent wave that wiped out a village.

The discovery of the girls, who were 7 and 10 years old, brought the total number of people confirmed dead in the Chiapas hamlet of San Juan Grijalva to 11. Floods killed at least eight others elsewhere in Chiapas and neighboring Tabasco state.

The search continued as divers looked for at least 16 people reported missing after a Monday landslide unleashed a giant wave, covering the village with small lakes of water.

Authorities said rescue efforts could be suspended if no other bodies are found in the next 24 hours.

ZITISTE, Serbia

Tarzan, Rocky and topless model revered

In this sleepy farming village, residents talk of a new spirit of exaltation ever since a towering bronze and concrete statue of Rocky Balboa was erected in the village square, his boxing gloves raised in a gesture of triumph.

But Rocky will soon have company in the region: Movie Tarzan Johnny Weissmuller, Bruce Lee and a former Playboy model.

In a phenomenon that is delighting or alarming cultural critics, monuments to icons of Hollywood and popular culture are sprouting in villages and towns across the Balkans, after almost a decade of bloodshed that killed as many as 125,000 people in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.

The noted Serbian visual artist Milica Tomic called the statues "a dangerous joke in which history is being erased and replaced by Mickey Mouse."

In their respective towns, officials call Weissmuller a native-born son; Lee a man who brought cultures together and embodied the fight for justice; and singer and former topless model Samantha Fox ... well, city leaders just like her.

[Last modified November 11, 2007, 02:16:21]