Colombian mediation failure hurts talkative Chavez

By Saul Hudson

CARACAS (Reuters) - Maybe he should have listened to the king.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez exhausted his Colombian counterpart's patience by speaking out of turn once too often, prompting President Alvaro Uribe on Wednesday to end his neighbor's mediation with rebels on freeing hostages.

With less than two weeks before Chavez faces a close referendum on scrapping his term limits, the break-off delivered a diplomatic defeat to the Cuba ally and highlighted what many voters dislike about him -- he cannot stop talking.

Accused of breaking a protocol accord by bypassing Uribe and contacting a Colombian general about the hostages, his ejection as mediator comes just weeks after the outspoken Chavez also provoked Spain's king to tell him to "shut up."

Chavez's mediation failure robs him of an opportunity to burnish his credentials as a statesman and hurts his image as he seeks to convince skeptical voters they should pass a December 2 referendum to expand the former coup leader's powers.

"The Venezuelan president exaggerated and abused the role of a mediator," said Felix Gerardo Arellano, an international relations academic at the Central University of Venezuela.

"It seemed more like a media show than a negotiation."

King Juan Carlos rebuked Chavez at a summit after he interrupted Spanish Prime Minister Jose Rodriguez Zapatero and called the previous prime minister a "fascist."

Chavez, who has sparked diplomatic flaps before -- such as when he called U.S. President George W. Bush the devil or Mexico's president an American "lap dog" -- refused to keep quiet.

Instead, the leftist has spent hours railing at "colonial arrogance," demanded the king apologize and threatened billions of dollars of Spanish investment in the OPEC nation.

The Colombian talks also showed how Chavez's chatter can cause him problems, even if captives' relatives criticized Uribe for scrapping the mediation too soon.

Chavez had won Washington's backing to hold the rebel talks and French President Nicolas Sarkozy welcomed him in Paris.

But he refused to heed repeated complaints from the Uribe administration. Announcing negotiating positions on television, Chavez's folksy, talkative style jarred with the typically quiet diplomacy needed for hostage negotiations.

On Wednesday when he spoke directly with a general, Uribe ran out of patience, saying he broke an agreement the two leaders had that they alone would manage the discussions.

TALK SHOW