PEDRO PABLO PEÑALOZA
EL UNIVERSAL

Venezuela and Mexico Monday decided to recall their ambassadors, following Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Alí Rodríguez' statements rejecting an ultimatum from the Mexican Foreign Affairs Office on Sunday.

At around 10:00 a.m. Monday, Rubén Aguilar, the spokesman for the Mexican President's Office, ratified that his country was giving Hugo Chávez' government a deadline -until midnight Monday- to offer an apology. Otherwise, Mexico would recall his envoy to Caracas, Enrique Loaeza, and order withdrawal of Venezuelan Ambassador Vladimir Villegas.

Mexican ruler Vicente Fox did not have to wait long for a Venezuelan answer. A couple of hours following Aguilar's statements, Rodríguez Araque read a communiqué ordering "the immediate return of Vladimir Villegas" to Venezuela and rejecting Mexican request as "a pointless aggression."

Rodríguez Araque asserted: "President Fox' stance does not have any justification." Following the fourth Summit of the Americas in Mar del Plata, Argentina, on November 4-5, President Chávez called his Mexican counterpart "a puppy of the empire." "We deeply respect the Mexican people (...) There has been no aggression. The Venezuelan government appreciates the Mexican people's patriotic and anti-imperialist tradition," underscored Rodríguez Araque Monday.

In this way, the Venezuelan diplomat replied to Aguilar, who claimed that Fox' administration was asking for an apology because of "Chávez' unfounded stance and disrespect for the Mexican people and presidential investiture."

When asked about the expression Chávez used to describe Fox -"puppy of the empire"-, Rodríguez Araque replied: "The head of State has the capacity to outline the country's foreign policy under the terms he deems most convenient."

Following Rodríguez Araque's statements, Mexico ordered Villegas' withdrawal. The Mexican government officially removed Villegas' diplomatic credentials, thus preventing him from returning to Mexico as ambassador, in the event that this impasse is solved.

"I am leaving with my chin up," said Villegas at the airport, where he was cheered up by a small group of people who was there to support him.

The Mexican ambassador is leaving Venezuela early on Tuesday and is to be replaced by business attaché Marco García Blanco.

Rodríguez Araque dismissed severance of bilateral ties. "Relations continue, but at a lower level than ambassadors, as the Mexican side wants it. But there is not a break." He added that Venezuelan diplomatic mission in Mexico will be headed by the business attaché.

"Relations have been affected to some extent, but there is no rupture. We shall find an adequate way to solve problems that have not been caused by Venezuela," he stressed.

"Our confrontation is basically related to the United States administration," Rodríguez Araque added. He affirmed that Washington is provoking "destabilization and uncertainty in our country." "We hope other friend countries do not join this campaign," he said.

Rodríguez Araque claimed that during the fourth Summit of the Americas, Chávez announced he would broadcast the summit debates in his weekly radio and TV show "¡Aló, Presidente!" (Hello, President!). Therefore, the diplomat found that broadcast of the regional meeting "is no surprise."

Translated by Maryflor Suárez R.