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Be careful what you wish for …

JIM WATSON/AFP While Bush has been traveling south of the border, much has been made by the Latin America’s leaders about how the U.S. president hasn’t paid enough attention to the region during his two terms in office. On Monday, Mexican President Felipe Calderón lamented that Bush had once promised to make its relations with ...

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JIM WATSON/AFP

JIM WATSON/AFP

While Bush has been traveling south of the border, much has been made by the Latin America’s leaders about how the U.S. president hasn’t paid enough attention to the region during his two terms in office. On Monday, Mexican President Felipe Calderón lamented that Bush had once promised to make its relations with Mexico a priority:

In a meeting like this one,” Mr. Calderón said to Mr. Bush, “you expressed some years ago that there is no relationship all over the world that is more relevant to the United States than that one that you have with Mexico.” It was understandable that the Sept. 11 attacks led to some changes in national priorities in the United States, he said, but “nevertheless, I believe that it is now time to retake the spirit of those words, and to direct our relationship toward a path of mutual prosperity.”

Here’s my question for the Mexican president: Given his administration’s track record, do you really want to be #1 on Bush’s foreign policy priority list? Shouldn’t you be glad that you’ve been ignored? Ask Iraq what it’s like to be the center of U.S. attention.

Christine Y. Chen is a senior editor at Foreign Policy.
Tags: George W. Bush, North America, South America

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