I’m With Venezuela... …In the Conflict Between Vicente Fox and Hugo Chávez

Last weekend, which marked the 195th anniversary of the November 20 Mexican Revolution, something unprecedented in the history of Mexico occurred. The Venezuelan government held a march to protest Mexican president Vicente Fox's subservience and to support Bolivarian foreign policy. These demonstrations were repeated in Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. Many rightwing or apolitical Mexicans watch with a certain fear every time Hugo Chávez opens his mouth and gets linked with Andrés Manuel López Obrador. As Alberto Núñez, president of the business organization Coparmex, said:

"The business sector has expressed its rejection of populist, demagogic governments, and for that reason it has warned that it fears Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez's aims of influencing Mexico."

Or take the threats that Manuel Espino, president of Fox's National Action Party (PAN), uttered against the Venezuelan government:

Reporter: What actions would those be?

Manuel Espino: Hugo Chávez will find out soon enough.

R: Does this imply activism on the part of PAN supporters in Venezuela?

ME: It implies whatever is necessary, respecting the law and sovereignty of all nations, but supporting the democratization process of the people who today live under authoritarianism.

R. Vladimir Villegas says that the PAN's meddling in Venezuela is one of this conflict's causes.

ME: I’m so glad you have quoted him! Vladimir Villegas, Venezuela's former ambassador in Mexico, thank God, dedicated himself to supporting the activities of Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s party. Obviously, Chávez's strategy in Mexico was to support a state populism similar to his own — that of Andrés Manuel -- and the media confirmed that.

R: These actions that your party will take, won't they affect relations [between the two countries] even more?

ME: To the contrary, we are interested in having good relations with citizens, with the people, not with authoritarian governments. Chávez is not Venezuela; Chávez is the authoritarian president of [the Venezuelans], and we are interested in a good relationship with them.

But the reality is that the PRD’s candidate kept his distance and defended the office of the presidency (but not Fox himself). In an interview this week with Televisa journalist Adela Micha, he said that “I have nothing to do with Chávez, absolutely nothing,” and assured that he has had no contact with Chávez since becoming governor of Mexico City. Also, if we look at both men’s origins, we see some very marked differences, such as Manuel Obrador’s pacifistic and center-left past and Chávez's military and leftwing education. There are also very pronounced similarities, in the emphasis both politicians give to fighting poverty and their opposition to neoliberalism.