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| Barack Obama calls for 'new realities' and improved US-Mexico relations | Barack Obama calls for 'new realities' and improved US-Mexico relations |
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| President Barack Obama called for a positive re-evaluation of the US-Mexico relationship on Friday, in an emphatically upbeat speech in Mexico City. Obama expressed strong confidence that immigration reform in the US would become a reality before the end of the year. | President Barack Obama called for a positive re-evaluation of the US-Mexico relationship on Friday, in an emphatically upbeat speech in Mexico City. Obama expressed strong confidence that immigration reform in the US would become a reality before the end of the year. |
| "It is time to put old mind sets aside and time to recognize new realities," Obama said, in a speech to hundreds of Mexican students interspersed with political leaders. The relationship, he said, should not be defined by threats but by shared prosperity. | "It is time to put old mind sets aside and time to recognize new realities," Obama said, in a speech to hundreds of Mexican students interspersed with political leaders. The relationship, he said, should not be defined by threats but by shared prosperity. |
| This message of mutual respect, partnership and economic potential has dominated Obama's two-day visit to Mexico, which began on Thursday with a meeting with the country's new president, Enrique Peña Nieto. | This message of mutual respect, partnership and economic potential has dominated Obama's two-day visit to Mexico, which began on Thursday with a meeting with the country's new president, Enrique Peña Nieto. |
| In the press conference that followed, the emphasis on the economy dovetailed with an effort to defuse underlying tensions over America's role in Mexico's drug wars, by stressing that US collaboration would be respectful of the new government's promise to prioritize reducing violence rather than going after the cartels. | In the press conference that followed, the emphasis on the economy dovetailed with an effort to defuse underlying tensions over America's role in Mexico's drug wars, by stressing that US collaboration would be respectful of the new government's promise to prioritize reducing violence rather than going after the cartels. |
| Obama's speech, which was delivered in the impressive setting of the National Anthropology Museum, was filled with eulogies to Mexican cultural and historical figures, from the painter Frida Kahlo to the Independence hero Miguel Hidalgo. Periodic phrases delivered in Spanish – such as "Es un placer estar entre amigos," or "It is a pleasure to be among friends" – earned cheers. | Obama's speech, which was delivered in the impressive setting of the National Anthropology Museum, was filled with eulogies to Mexican cultural and historical figures, from the painter Frida Kahlo to the Independence hero Miguel Hidalgo. Periodic phrases delivered in Spanish – such as "Es un placer estar entre amigos," or "It is a pleasure to be among friends" – earned cheers. |
| But the speech also contained much that seemed designed to convince the president's domestic audience that Mexico's economic potential should allay fears generated by the bipartisan initiative on immigration reform that is currently making its way through Congress. Obama said he was "absolutely convinced" that reform could be passed this year. | But the speech also contained much that seemed designed to convince the president's domestic audience that Mexico's economic potential should allay fears generated by the bipartisan initiative on immigration reform that is currently making its way through Congress. Obama said he was "absolutely convinced" that reform could be passed this year. |
| While the president called on Mexicans to put aside their traditional vision of the US as either disrespectful of national sovereignty or isolationist, he put most stress on the need for the US to go beyond the perceptions created by headlines about violence and concerns about border security. | While the president called on Mexicans to put aside their traditional vision of the US as either disrespectful of national sovereignty or isolationist, he put most stress on the need for the US to go beyond the perceptions created by headlines about violence and concerns about border security. |
| "Mexico is a nation that is in the process of remaking itself," Obama said, before praising everything from pro-competition legislative reforms to trade figures and the fact that most Mexicans now identify themselves as middle class. "The long-term solution to the challenge of illegal immigration is a growing, prosperous Mexico that creates more jobs and opportunity right here." | "Mexico is a nation that is in the process of remaking itself," Obama said, before praising everything from pro-competition legislative reforms to trade figures and the fact that most Mexicans now identify themselves as middle class. "The long-term solution to the challenge of illegal immigration is a growing, prosperous Mexico that creates more jobs and opportunity right here." |
| The Mexican government has studiously avoided commenting in any depth on the possibility of an immigration reform, but Obama's message still fitted easily with President Peña Nieto's own efforts to persuade Mexicans that, as the government slogan goes, "This is Mexico's Moment". This also involves redirecting attention away from the continuing violence of the drug wars that are killing around 1,000 people every month. | The Mexican government has studiously avoided commenting in any depth on the possibility of an immigration reform, but Obama's message still fitted easily with President Peña Nieto's own efforts to persuade Mexicans that, as the government slogan goes, "This is Mexico's Moment". This also involves redirecting attention away from the continuing violence of the drug wars that are killing around 1,000 people every month. |
| Obama did briefly touch on security issues, although this was primarily to promise that he is working hard to curb American demand for illegal drugs and weapons trafficking that he recognized is fuelling the killing. | Obama did briefly touch on security issues, although this was primarily to promise that he is working hard to curb American demand for illegal drugs and weapons trafficking that he recognized is fuelling the killing. |
| Following the speech, Obama met representatives of the business community in private before flying on to Costa Rica. After meeting with the Costa Rican president, Laura Chinchilla, he is due to join leaders from Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama at a gathering of the Central American Integration System. | Following the speech, Obama met representatives of the business community in private before flying on to Costa Rica. After meeting with the Costa Rican president, Laura Chinchilla, he is due to join leaders from Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama at a gathering of the Central American Integration System. |
| Obama is reportedly preparing to be rather tougher on the Central Americans than the Mexicans, calling for enhanced security cooperation as well as improvements in human rights and democratic reforms. | Obama is reportedly preparing to be rather tougher on the Central Americans than the Mexicans, calling for enhanced security cooperation as well as improvements in human rights and democratic reforms. |
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