Venezuela, Mexico Leaders In Row

Venezuela called its ambassador to Mexico home Monday rather than apologize after President Hugo Chavez warned Mexican leader Vicente Fox: "Don't mess with me." Mexico responded by recalling its own diplomat.

In an interview with CNN en Espanol, Fox said he would meet with Foreign Secretary Ernesto Derbez to decide what to do next.

In a statement late Sunday, Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said that because Chavez's comments "strike at the dignity of the Mexican people and government, Mexico demands a formal apology from Venezuela's government."

But in a news conference Monday in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, Foreign Secretary Ali Rodriguez said his country would not accept Mexico's demands.

"The immediate return of ambassador Vladimir Villegas has been ordered," Rodriguez said, adding that his departure was "leaving the affairs of our embassy in Mexico in the hands of an appointed charge-d'affaires."

Venezuela "rejects as an unjustified attack the ultimatum issued by the government of Mexico," Rodriguez said. "This situation is entirely the responsibility of President Fox."

At his Monday briefing hours earlier in Mexico City, Fox spokesman Ruben Aguilar said Mexico had told Villegas that he needed to be ready to leave the country after midnight.

No one was available to comment at the Venezuelan embassy in Mexico City on Monday.

Aguilar said Mexico was demanding an apology after "an absence of reason and President Chavez's lack of respect for the people of Mexico and the institution of our country's presidency."

But he was quick to add that expelling Venezuela's ambassador and calling Mexico's home would not mean severing ties completely with Venezuela because business and cultural relations would remain intact.

Tensions between Fox and Chavez spilled over after this month's Summit of the Americas in Argentina, where Fox defended a U.S.-backed proposal for a Free Trade Area of the Americas while Chavez proclaimed the idea dead.

"President Fox left bleeding from his wound," Chavez said Sunday during his weekly radio and TV show, echoing remarks last week in which he accused Fox of being a "puppy" of the U.S. government for supporting its plans for the free trade zone.

Chavez then warned Fox: "Don't mess with me, sir, because you'll get stung."

A diplomatic dispute with Cuba in 2004 led Mexico to expel the Cuban ambassador and withdraw its own emissary to Havana, a freeze that lasted for several months. Venezuela is a close ally of Cuba.

Chavez's comments reignited a dispute that flared late last week, but appeared to cool during the weekend.

On Friday, Aguilar demanded a satisfactory explanation from Venezuela for Chavez's "puppy" comment and said this country would take "appropriate steps" if it didn't get one.

But Mexico's Foreign Relations department released a statement a day later saying Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez and his Venezuelan counterpart, Ali Rodriguez, had a "cordial and productive" talk and that the countries were moving closer to a resolution of the dispute that would strengthen their bilateral relationship.