Venezuela recalled its ambassador from Mexico on Monday in an escalating diplomatic dispute between President Hugo Chavez and his Mexican counterpart Vicente Fox over regional trade talks, Reuters reported. Mexico had threatened to withdraw its own ambassador if Caracas did not apologize by midnight Monday for remarks by Chavez, who had criticized Fox. "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.
