¿Por qué no te callas?
¿Por qué no te callas? (Spanish:
Incident
At the meeting on 10 November 2007, Chávez repeatedly interrupted Zapatero to call Zapatero's predecessor,
Chávez's attacks became so strong that Zapatero rose to Aznar's defence, even though he had been severely critical of Aznar in the past. Zapatero pointed out that Aznar had been democratically elected and was "a legitimate representative of the Spanish people".[1]
Although organizers switched off Chávez's microphone, he continued to interrupt as Zapatero defended Aznar. Juan Carlos leaned forward, turned towards Chávez, and said, "¿Por qué no te callas?" The King's rebuke received applause from the general audience.
For the King, the incident was part of an annus horribilis for the royal image, according to the Chilean newspaper La Nación.[5] The New York Times argued that the incident exposed "the unendingly complicated relations between Spain and its former colonies".[6]
Reaction
After the events at the summit, Hugo Chávez made statements against King Juan Carlos I, questioning his democratic
The Spanish government showed appreciation for the reaction of the King and for Zapatero's defense of the dignity of Spanish elected representatives like Aznar.[8]
Several days after the event, Chávez demanded an apology from King Juan Carlos and warned Spain that he would review diplomatic ties and take action against Spanish companies, such as
According to the
The King's outburst received divided reactions from other leaders. Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defended Chávez, while Peru's and El Salvador's presidents Alan García and Antonio Saca supported the King.[11]
Popularity of phrase
Zapatero said he did not realize what an influential moment it had been until he returned home and his eldest daughter greeted him with "¿Por qué no te callas?", which made them both laugh.[12]
The King's phrase gained cult slogan status, ringing from mobile phones; appearing on T-shirts; and being used as a greeting. The domain, porquenotecallas.com, had reached US$4,600 on eBay as of 16 November 2007.[13][14] The phrase became a YouTube sensation overnight and a song was written to a traditional tune.[15] The phrase spawned countless media articles, jokes, songs and video clips, and in Spain an estimated 500,000 people downloaded the phrase as a ringtone, generating €1.5 million (US$2 million) in sales as of November 2007.[16][17] As of 14 November 2007, Google generated 665,000 webhits on the phrase and YouTube had 610 videos.[17] Entrepreneurs in Florida and Texas put the slogan on T-shirts, and marketed them on eBay and elsewhere;[6] the phrase became a greeting among Venezuelan expats in Miami and Spain[14] and a slogan for Chávez opponents.[10][18]
Less than 24 hours after the event, the king's words were used by sports commentators during the radio transmission of Spanish language football games to describe controversial events. A contest for the best audiovisual depiction of the event was announced in Spain.[19] The Cincinnati Enquirer editorial page suggested that the phrase would have the power to change the course of history, as has been credited to Ronald Reagan's, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"[20]
The Los Angeles Times said "the Spanish-speaking world can hardly stop talking about [the incident]", which provided "fodder for satirists from Mexico City to Madrid".
Protesters against the Chávez government adopted the phrase as their slogan;[18] T-shirts in Venezuela had the slogan with the "no" in capital letters, representing a call to vote against amendments in the December 2007 constitutional referendum[25] and the phrase was used as a taunt when more than 100,000 marched in protest against Chávez's proposed constitutional changes.[26]
Aftermath
Immediate
One week after the event, The Wall Street Journal wrote that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia delivered Chávez's second rebuke from a king in one week, when he reminded Chávez that oil should not be used as a tool for conflict. The remarks came minutes after Chávez called for OPEC to "assert itself as an active political agent" at the OPEC summit in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh.[27] In a followup at the OPEC summit, Reuters wrote that "Spain's king cannot shut Chavez up but bladder can",[28] and that Chávez said to a throng of reporters at the OPEC summit, "For a while now, I have needed to go to the bathroom and I am going to pee ... Do you want me to pee on you?"[28]
Two weeks after the event, Chile's President Michelle Bachelet revealed that she had politely requested that Chávez abstain from making some statements at the summit, indicating frankly that she felt "let down" by the subsequent discussions at the OPEC meeting, considering the effect that the price of oil has on countries like Chile.[29] Also just weeks after the incident, Chávez was "accused of breaking a protocol accord" with Colombia's President Álvaro Uribe and "exhaust[ing] his Colombian counterpart's patience by speaking out of turn once too often", formally ending Chávez's mediation in hostage negotiations with the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group.[30]
In Argentina, a television program called Por qué no te callas began broadcasting on 6 December 2007.[31]
Enduring
The phrase was seen at the 2010 FIFA World Cup when a Spanish fan raised a scarf bearing the slogan.[32] In 2013, Infobae named the incident among those most noted to have captured public attention in the history of the Ibero-American Summit.[33] Entorno Inteligente invoked the phrase in 2014, paying homage to Spain for the "immortal lexicon", and referring to Venezuelan politician Nicolás Maduro as in-maduro (a play on the Spanish word immature).[34] A 2020 Spanish newspaper characterized the incident as one of the 20 most memorable televised moments of Juan Carlos.[35]
A 2017 journal paper used the incident as an example of the definition of intensification as a "pragmatic strategy that contributes to the rhetorico–argumentative aspect reinforcing what has been said or the speaker's or somebody else's point of view".[36] A study published in 2019 in the journal Normas about the expression of courtesy in language remarked that neither party had measured the impact their words would have during the summit.[37]
Alternative forms
According to
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "Shut up, Spain king tells Chavez". BBC. 10 November 2007. Archived from the original on 11 November 2007. Retrieved 9 November 2007.
- ^ a b Padgett, Tim (12 November 2007). "Behind the King's Rebuke to Chávez". Time. Archived from the original on 15 November 2007. Retrieved 14 November 2007.
- Antena 3. 11 November 2007. Archived from the originalon 12 November 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2007.
- ^ Tabar, Carmen (10 November 2007). "Nunca se había visto al Rey tan enfadado en público". El Periódico de Catalunya. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2007.
- ^ "El 'annus horribilis' del Rey Juan Carlos" (in Spanish). La Nación (Chile). 15 November 2007. Archived from the original on 6 December 2012. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
- ^ a b Romero, Simon (25 November 2007). "When a Mother Country Tells Its Kid, 'Shut Up'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 December 2007. Retrieved 26 February 2008.
- ^ Peregil, Francisco (15 November 2007). "Chávez carga contra el Rey y avisa de que revisará las relaciones con España". El País (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
- ^ "Moratinos afirma que "lo último que debe hacerse" es llamar al embajador a consultas". El País (in Spanish). 15 November 2007. Archived from the original on 16 October 2008. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
- ^ a b c "Chávez Threatens to Reconsider Venezuela's Ties With Spain". The New York Times. Reuters. 15 November 2007. Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2007.
- ^ a b c d Crawford, Leslie Crawford (15 November 2007). "Juan Carlos' words conquer the net". Financial Times. MSNBC. Archived from the original on 17 November 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f Kraul, Chris (17 November 2007). "King's words to Chavez start a battle royal". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 6 February 2008. Retrieved 17 November 2007.
- ^ (in Spanish) Hermoso, Borja. "Aznar a Zapatero: "Tú eres el presidente, me llamas cuando quieras"". El País. 13 November 2007. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. El País, 13 November 2007. . Retrieved 15 November 2007.
- ^ "Regal 'Shut Up' Becomes a Cult Ringtone". cellular-news.com. 16 November 2007. Archived from the original on 17 November 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2007.
- ^ a b Corral, Oscar (13 November 2007). "Spanish king's retort to Chávez strikes chord". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 22 November 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2007.
- ^ Sanchez, Marcela (16 November 2007). "'Why Don't You Shut Up?' Chavez's antagonistic antics have their limit". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 20 August 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2007.
- ^ "'Shut up' Chavez is ringtone hit". BBC News. 19 November 2007. Archived from the original on 21 November 2007. Retrieved 19 November 2007.
- ^ a b "Ahora nadie se calla". BBC Mundo (in Spanish). 14 November 2007. Archived from the original on 16 November 2007. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
- ^ a b Viewpoints: Chavez and King row. BBC News, 16 November 2007. Retrieved 17 November 2007.
- ^ "Tono de la frase "¿por qué no te callas?" arrasa en politonías de celulares". El Universal (in Spanish). 16 November 2007. Archived from the original on 24 September 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2007.
- Gannett Company. p. 8B. Archivedfrom the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
History provides us with many examples of famous catch-phrases – the right words, uttered at just the right time – that have shown the power to change the course of events: ... Reagan's 'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.' Someday soon, we may be able to add to this list the blunt suggestion, already a hot Internet buzz-phrase and cell-phone ring tone, by an exasperated King Juan Carlos I to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez during a recent summit in Chile: "Why don't you shut up?"
- ^ Diehl, Jackson (19 November 2007). "Chávez and the King". The Washington Post. p. A17. Retrieved 10 November 2007.
- ^ Jackson Diehl, "Silencing Venezuela's President a Royal Task", 21 November 2007, syndicated in the Albuquerque Journal, p. A9.
- Sydney Morning Herald. 20 November 2007. Archivedfrom the original on 20 November 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2007.
- ^ "'King of Spain' tells half a million callers to 'shut up': New, insulting ringtone a smash hit in Spain". CBC News. 19 November 2007. Archived from the original on 22 November 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2007.
- ^ "NBC News – Breaking News & Top Stories – Latest World, US & Local News". newsvine.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
- ^ Strange, Hannah (30 November 2007). "100,000 march against Hugo Chavez reforms". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 6 July 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
- ^ "Chavez's OPEC Speech Spurs Rebuke From Saudi King". The Wall Street Journal. 17 November 2007. Archived from the original on 7 May 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2007.
- ^ a b "Spain's king cannot shut Chavez up but bladder can". Reuters. 19 November 2007. Archived from the original on 21 November 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2007.
- ^ "Bachelet also asked Chavez, (politely) to shut up". MercoPress. 23 November 2007. Archived from the original on 27 November 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
- ^ Hudson, Saul (22 November 2007). "Colombian mediation failure hurts talkative Chavez". Reuters. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
- ^ "El "¿por qué no te callas?" del rey Juan Carlos I, en la TV argentina". La Flecha (in Spanish). 5 December 2007. Archived from the original on 7 December 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2008.
- ^ "Frase "¿Por qué no te callas?" aparece en el España – Honduras" [The phrase "¿Por qué no te callas?" appears in the España – Honduras match]. El Universal. 21 June 2010. Archived from the original on 24 June 2010.
- ^ "Cumbre de papelones: del "¿por qué no te callas?" al intercambio de corbatas entre Aznar y Fidel" [Paper summit: from "why don't you shut up?" to the exchange of ties between Aznar and Fidel] (in Spanish). infobae. 18 October 2013. Archived from the original on 24 October 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ "¿Por qué no te callas, in−Maduro?" (in Spanish). Entorno Inteligente. 2 November 2013. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ "Del '¿Por qué no te callas?' al 'Me he equivocado': los momentazos televisivos más recordados de Juan Carlos I" [From '¿Por qué no te callas?' to 'Me he equivocado': the most memorable televised moments of Juan Carlos I]. El periodico (in Spanish). 8 April 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
- .
- .
- ^ a b "¡Por qué no te callas!". Fundéu (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 16 December 2009. Retrieved 20 November 2007.
- ^ "En chileno la frase del rey Juan Carlos sería: ¡por qué no te callái vo!". Las Últimas Noticias (in Spanish). 19 November 2007. Archived from the original on 21 November 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2007.
External links
- Youtube video of the incident (English subtitles)