King Juan Carlos of Spain stormed out of a recent Latin American summit meeting in Chile while Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega was complaining vocally about the Spanish multinational, Union Fenosa, which has had the privatization contract for Nicaraguan electricity distribution since 2001. Ortega was on one of his rolls, enjoying the rush that comes from speaking on an international stage. He then denounced Spanish interference in the elections last year. It was all too much for the King considering what had happened only moments before.
Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero had been addressing the gathering and made reference to what Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez had spoken about earlier when he did not couch his words and called a former prime minister of Spain a “fascist.” When Zapatero made reference to that insult, Chávez interrupted in what is basically a pissing match between Spain and Venezuela.  The King of Spain lost whatever cool he had been trained into and butted in to shout at Chávez irately, “Why don’t you just shut up!?”
As luck would have it, next up to the podium was Nicaragua’s own Daniel Ortega, voicing his criticisms of some things Spanish. Rather than resorting to un-royal remarks during Ortega’s speechifying, the monarch opted for the walkout.
The Nicaraguan president’s comments once again displayed what has come to be called his “bi-polarism.” He denounces the Spanish multinational Union Fenosa while his government recently cut a deal with them for increases in the rates charged for electricity. He accuses the Spanish foreign service of having interfered in last year’s elections while welcoming Spanish foreign aid. He rails against international capitalism one day and meets the next with international capitalists interested in investing in the country.
At least he can’t be called a fence-sitter. To all appearances, he stands firmly on both sides of it.