Another attack by Chavismo leaders on the Spanish Crown. This time it was Diosdado Cabello, Minister of Interior and Justice of Venezuela, who said that the former King of Spain, Juan Carlos I, "is a thief" and "stole even the locks," as reported by Efe.
"The King of Spain, that vagabond who is fleeing around the world as a thief, because he even stole the locks of the doors. King Juan Carlos (...) tried to tell Commander (Hugo Chávez) 'Why don't you shut up'," Cabello said on his weekly program 'Con el Mazo dando', broadcasted on the state channel VTV.
On November 10, 2007, Juan Carlos I silenced then-President Chávez for his repeated interruptions at the XVII Ibero-American Summit, where Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was delivering a speech.
Additionally, Cabello stated that a king, at this point, is "stupidity" and "one of the most horrible setbacks that can exist in life," without providing arguments for his statement. "What is a king for? (...) Where does that king come from? That so-called, self-proclaimed king comes from Franco's fascism. Let them accept it. Here, we do not accept kings from anyone," he expressed.
On October 12, Indigenous Resistance Day, the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, reiterated that Spain "should apologize every day" for the "genocide" that - he insists - it committed in the 15th century against American peoples, including Venezuela.
The Parliament, controlled by Chavismo, urged the Spanish Government on October 8 to abolish the monarchy, considering it an institution linked to corruption and an "expression of the far right," and urged Maduro to sever diplomatic, consular, and commercial relations with the European country.
On the other hand, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, demanded that Venezuela respect Spanish institutions when asked about the resolution passed by the Venezuelan Parliament to urge the European country to abolish the monarchy.