Mexico and Venezuela at odds - recall ambassadors

Hugo Chavez, the nutty President of Venezuela got tired of being ignored by President Bush and decided to start insulting the President of Mexico Vincente Fox. Chavez accused Fox of being a puppet of President Bush which is particularly ironic since Mexico opposed the Iraq portion of the War on Terrorism and has been less than helpful in stemming the tide of illegal immigrants into this country. Fox did not just ignore Chavez.

Fox retorted in an interview with CNN: "Other countries might accept (Chavez's) wording and the way he attacks everybody and he attacks institutions. We are not willing to do that in Mexico."

Venezuela called its ambassador home Monday rather than apologize for the remark, and Mexico responded by recalling its own envoy to Venezuela.

Fox said his government was mulling its next move. "We can't allow people to offend our country," he told CNN en Espanol.

Tensions between Fox and Chavez spilled over after the summit in Argentina, where Fox defended a U.S.-backed proposal for a Free Trade Area of the Americas. Chavez proclaimed the idea dead. They reached a breaking point late Sunday, when Mexico issued a statement saying Chavez's latest barb "strikes at the dignity of the Mexican people and government."

Over the course of history, more wars have been started over perceived slights to one's dignity than anything else. This could get interesting, but my guess is it won't. Neither country has a large military and Venezuela's economy would be severely hurt by any disruption in their oil exportation. Not to be flippant, but I expect a Mexican Standoff.