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Venezuela, Spain Committed To Strengthening Relations
AFP
June 18, 2008

CARACAS -- Venezuela and Spain have "turned the page" in their strained relations, both countries said, months after a row sparked by King Juan Carlos when he told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to shut up.

"We have turned the page on an incident that nobody wanted or sought," Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said here Tuesday after meeting his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro and Chavez.

"Both governments are committed to strengthening bilateral relations and walking together.

Maduro said the visit by Moratinos to Caracas opens a "new and good phase" in bilateral relations.

"It has been a welcome and necessary visit that marks a new moment between Venezuela and Spain," Moratinos added.

On Tuesday, Moratinos spent nearly three hours with Maduro to review their bilateral agenda, and was then received by Chavez in an encounter Moratinos described as "fruitful and positive."

"From now on there will be an intense agenda of contacts at all levels: political, economic, commercial, investment and Latin American issues, as we already work together in several international forums," Moratinos said.

The strained ties began to ease following a meeting between Zapatero and Chavez during last month's summit of EU and Latin American leaders in Lima, Peru.

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