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 News from Around the Americas | November 2005 
Venezuela, Mexico Recall Envoys
 Patrick Markey - Reuters
| | President Vicente Fox speaks during an interview by a TV channel in which he announced that Mexico is withdrawing its ambassador to Venezuela, at the Presidential Residence Los Pinos in Mexico City November 14, 2005. Venezuela and Mexico recalled their ambassadors on Monday as left-wing President Hugo Chavez and his counterpart Fox sparred in an escalating dispute over a U.S. proposal for regional free trade. (Ariel Gutierrez) |
Caracas, Venezuela - Venezuela and Mexico recalled their ambassadors on Monday as left-wing President Hugo Chavez and his counterpart Vicente Fox sparred in an escalating dispute over a U.S. proposal for regional free trade.
The diplomatic spat underscored sharp divisions among Latin American leaders over Washington's economic policies and an increasingly aggressive campaign by Chavez to counterbalance U.S. influence in the region.
Venezuela Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez announced the recall after Mexico threatened to withdraw its envoy if Caracas did not apologize by midnight for remarks by Chavez, who criticized Fox and branded him a "lap dog" of U.S. imperialism.
"We have ordered the immediate return of our ambassador Vladimir Villegas, leaving our affairs... in the hands of a business attache," Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez told reporters.
"There is no break in relations... we hope to find a solution to this," Rodriguez said, making it clear Venezuela rejected the Mexican government's ultimatum for an apology.
Speaking in a live interview with CNN en Espanol channel shortly after, Fox said Mexico would also withdraw its ambassador. Chavez had taken a policy disagreement personally and insulted the Mexican people, Fox said.
"We have dignity in Mexico and we have to put a stop to anybody who offends the dignity of Mexico or its institutions," he said. "That defense will go as far as needed. Like we're doing right now, which is withdrawing our ambassador."
The row erupted after the regional Summit of the Americas in Argentina, where leaders failed to resolve differences over how to create a hemisphere-wide free trade zone.
Fox, a conservative closely allied to Washington on trade issues, had also accused Argentina's left-leaning President Nestor Kirchner of pandering to opinion polls instead of pushing a free trade accord backed by Washington at the summit.
The Mexican leader dismissed Chavez's leftist ideology as being divorced from reality.
A harsh critic of U.S. influence, Chavez often clashes with Washington over its free trade proposals. The former soldier presents his socialist revolution as an alternative for a region where many are disillusioned with U.S. policies.
Chavez on Sunday warned Fox: "Don't mess with me, mister, because you'll get pricked." Days earlier he called Fox a "lap dog of the empire" for backing U.S. trade policies at the Americas summit.
Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, is a key supplier of crude to the U.S. market. But relations between Caracas and Washington have frayed since Chavez came to office and strengthened ties with anti-U.S. states such as Cuba.
U.S. officials portray Chavez as a regional menace who has used his country's oil wealth to erode democracy. He counters that Washington has backed attempts to topple his government and access his country's oil.
(Additional reporting by Lorraine Orlandi in Mexico) |
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