MEXICO CITY -- Earlier this year, Mexican President Felipe Calderón admonished a meeting of the nation's top diplomats, urging them to speak better of Mexico in order to counter negative perceptions of the country generated by its ongoing war on drug cartels and the 2009 outbreak of the H1N1 virus.
Calderón raised eyebrows, however, when, to emphasize his point, he mentioned Brazil, saying the emerging South American power is perceived abroad in far more favorable terms than Mexico, in part because its own citizens speak well of it.
"I have never as a politician nor as president . . . heard a Brazilian speak badly of Brazil. And, yet, I've heard many Mexicans speak badly of Mexico to the world," he said. "The international perception is that Mexico is in chaos . . . and Brazil is some sort of paradise."