[NYTr] Mexico welcomes Venezuelan envoy
 
Date: Thu, 9 Aug 2007 11:41:18 -0500 (CDT)


Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
AP via Yahoo - Aug 8, 2007
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070808/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/mexico_venezuela

Mexico welcomes Venezuelan envoy

By LISA J. ADAMS, Associated Press Writer 

MEXICO CITY - Mexico on Wednesday welcomed Venezuela's decision to
reinstate an ambassador after two years of strained relations over free
trade and the U.S.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced the appointment on Tuesday
during a visit to Argentina, saying it was time for the countries to
put their conflicts behind them.

In a statement released late Tuesday, Mexico's Foreign Relations
Department said it received the announcement "with the greatest
interest" and was reviewing the possibility of reinstating its own
ambassador to Venezuela.

Since Mexican President Felipe Calderon took office on Dec. 1, "both
governments have had a series of meetings ... with an eye toward
normalizing bilateral relations," the department said.

Chavez said his decision to appoint an ambassador was a consequence of
Mexico's outreach.

"We have heard the messages from Mexico, from President Calderon, from
his Foreign Relations Department ... There is nothing left for us to do
but to respond in kind," he said.

Relations between Mexico and Venezuela became increasingly prickly in
2005 as then-Mexican President Vicente Fox and Chavez traded a series
of insults stemming from their disagreement over a U.S.-backed regional
free-trade agreement.

At the time, Chavez called Fox a "puppy of the empire" because of his
support for the so-called Free Trade Area of the Americas.

Relations between the two nations have been left at the level of
lower-level diplomats.

"For President Chavez, this is a time to turn the page on previous
conflicts," said a statement from the Venezuelan government.

"We love Mexico," Chavez said. "Mexico will always be necessary for us
Latin Americans. Latin America would be absolutely incomplete without
Mexico."

 
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