[mcmama]

I think this is pretty funny, and my friends in Miami think so too.
King Juan Carlos of Spain became exasperated with Hugo Chavez's constant and rude interruption of the Spanish Prime Minister. Finally he interrupted Chavez, saying "`¿Por qué no te callas?" This translates roughly to "Why don't you just shut up?" And by using the informal "te" he came across like a grandpa scolding a spoiled, rude child.

So now this is on Youtube, watched many times over. And it is also a ringtone, downloaded about 1.5 million times this week.

And it is now the stuff of song and story and ebay. There are auctions for T shirts with this new slogan. There are song parodies, and this just may start a new type of music - REYggeaton! You do not need to speak spanish to enjoy these.

Juan Carlos is a monarch who is very popular in Spain. Chavez is a dictator who pretends to be a liberator. I am intrigued by how popular this one comment has become. Also, the ability of dictators to behave like buffoons never ceases to amaze me.

[twinzplus3]

I have been watching this too! Chavez is scary I think. And I think, that other Latin American countries would tend to follow suit with King Juan Carlos. Chavez is not revered in Latin American culture, but people are afraid of him.

[mcmama]

That seems to be true, and the t shirts are gaining popularity even in Venezuela.

He had called one of Spain's earlier politicians a "fascista". Now given Spain's modern history, that could be true, I don't know, I don't know the politician. But the prime minister went to respond, and Chavez just kept talking through him, like a bully. This is when Juan Carlos made his comment. The fact that this has caught on throughout Latin America and Europe says something.

Chavez reminds me of another bully, Idi Amin Dada. He was a vicious clown. I think Chavez is smarter, and more powerful. But just as vicious.

[mcmama]

I can't find an audio or transcript of a call these two guys made to Chavez, but they used tapes of him to prank call Fidel Castro.

Should be part of every high school spanish lesson. All the cuss words I learned growning up in Miami, before I learned anything else of the language (which I am not very good at)

[SueR]

King Juan Carlos and Hugo Chavez are two political figures who couldn't be less alike. Juan Carlos restored democracy in Spain after the death of General Franco. Whereas Chavez has subverted democracy in his country at every turn. I think this is hysterically funny, anyway.