Former Mexican president Vicente Fox said he was ready to ride his horse to Venezuela to defend the South American nation from the "dictatorial" government of Hugo Chavez, a Mexican newspaper reported on Thursday.
According to Mexican daily El Universal, Fox remarked during a visit to San Diego, California, that he would gallop south to save Venezuela from Chavez's "authoritarian, demagogical and dictatorial" government.
The barb was a surprise outburst from the former president, who has kept a relatively low profile since his term ended in December, but was a reminder of how far relations have soured between Venezuela and Mexico in the last couple of years.
The countries recalled their ambassadors after sparring in late 2005 in which Chavez called Fox a "lap dog" of the US.
Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of Venezuelans oppose Chavez's plan to kick a TV station aligned with the opposition off the airwaves, many saying it will violate their right to choose what to watch, a private pollster said.
Seventy percent of 2,000 people polled last week opposed the decision by Chaves not to renew the broadcast license of Radio Caracas Television, Caracas-based pollster Datanalisis said on Thursday.
Chavez accuses the station of supporting a failed 2002 coup against him. He denies his aim is to silence a government critic, but argues the station has violated broadcast laws.
The station has challenged the move in court, but is set to go off the air at midnight on May 27.
About 200 people carrying torches and lanterns marched in support of RCTV on Thursday evening, weaving their way through the streets of the capital to the seat of the telecommunications watchdog, where they held a brief vigil.
Critics accuse Chavez of trampling on freedom of expression, but Datanalisis Director Luis Vicente Leon said most of those polled opposed the measure because "they reject the violation of their right to choose" what to watch on television.
The government has said it plans to create a new public service channel on the frequency.
The survey, which had a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points, showed 16.4 percent supporting Chavez's move, while 13.6 percent declined to respond.
Communication Minister Willian Lara accused RCTV of having financed the survey and dismissed the results as "propaganda" issued by government opponents.
Leon rejected the accusation, saying that the nationwide poll, based on a random sample, was commissioned by private clients that regularly contract Datanalisis' services.
Citing confidentiality agreements, he declined to name the clients but denied that RCTV was among them.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their