Venezuela Chavez may hug Spain king, won't shut up

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday he would like to give the king of Spain a hug when he visits Europe next week, but the outspoken leader, referring to a diplomatic spat last year, said he will not shut up. King Juan Carlos sparked a furor in November by shouting 'Why don't you shut up?' at Chavez when he tried to interrupt a speech by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero at the Ibero-American summit in Chile. Ties have improved since then and the Spanish government said last week that Chavez will meet the king on a visit to Spain next week. 'I'd like to give the king a hug, but you know, Juan Carlos, that I am not going to shut up,' a smiling Chavez said on his weekly television show before setting of to Russia for the first leg of his tour. 'We will keep talking for ourselves, for a just and equal world,' the left-wing president said.