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THE leaders of the United States and Mexico, who met in Washington on January 6th, have both experienced dramatic changes of fortune in recent months. Barack Obama, who looked feeble in the face of a divided Congress, has taken bold actions on immigration and Cuba that have endeared him to Latin Americans. Enrique Pea Nieto, whom Mr Obama must have envied for his ability to persuade Mexico's Congress to launch historic reforms, has instead been clobbered by crime and scandal.But this reversal of fortune did not upset the mutual esteem that has improved a cross-border relationship once fraught with insecurity and friction. More than their predecessors, Mr Obama and Mr Pea recognise 'the need to focus on the good news', even if that means downplaying such issues as corruption and the arms and drugs money that flow into Mexico from the United States, says Duncan Wood, head of the Mexico Institute of the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington.Mr Obama basked in the warmth created south of the border by his latest regional initiatives. Mexicans cheered his recent decision to loosen the United States' 54-year embargo on Cuba....Continue reading
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