Mexico's president-elect, Felipe Calderon, said on Tuesday that he is willing to talk with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to mend bilateral relations.

Calderon told reporters that he wants to establish good relations with all Latin American nations, including Venezuela.

He added that he does not rule out the possibility of inviting Chavez to his Dec. 1 inauguration ceremony, but it has to be discussed through diplomatic channels.

Relations between Mexico and Venezuela have been strained since November 2005, after Chavez said at the fourth Organization of American States Summit in Argentina that he was "saddened by the submissiveness" of Mexico's outgoing President Vicente Fox.

Chavez's remarks were a response to Fox's public defense for the Free Trade Area of the Americas, a U.S.-promoted trade deal.

The row was intensified during Mexico's presidential election campaign, when Calderon, the candidate for Mexico's ruling National Action Party, used images of Chavez in his campaign against left-winger Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Source: Xinhua