[1] Following Fox's declarations, on November 10, 2005, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez stated in a speech to supporters in Caracas that he was saddened that "the president of a people like the Mexicans lets himself become the puppy of the empire" for what he alleged was Fox's obsequience to U.S. trade interests in his promotion of the newly stalled FTAA.
[3][4] Fox, upon hearing of the remarks, expressed his outrage and threatened to recall Mexico's ambassador to Venezuela if the Venezuelan government did not promptly issue an apology.
However, rather than apologizing, Chávez simply recalled Venezuela's own ambassador to Mexico City, Vladimir Villegas.
[5][6] Fox pulled the credentials of the Venezuelan ambassador to make it clear that Villegas was kicked out, not recalled as Venezuela claimed.
In August 2007 normal relations were re-established with the appointment of former foreign minister Roy Chaderton as Venezuela's envoy in Mexico City and the transfer of Jesús Mario Chacón Carrillo, formerly Mexican ambassador to Colombia, to Caracas.