American President-elect Barack Obama met with Mexican President Felipe Calderon in Washington on Monday. More detailed analysis to follow, but see coverage here. Significantly, the BBC points out that this will be “Mr Obama's first [meeting] with a foreign leader since his election in November”. Although high-profile issues of the global financial crisis and wars abroad will dominate American policymaking, Obama's meeting with Calderon sends an important signal of solidarity between the two countries. The most pressing issue now is organized crime and the widespread violence that is engulfing Mexico. The US is responsible in large part due to the demand of drugs and lax gun laws which allow traffickers to bring weapons into Mexico. See BBC article here.
However, it is important to remember that when President Bush was first elected, his first meeting with a head of state was with then President Fox of Mexico. The bilateral agenda between the two countries, primarily about trade and immigration at the time, was quickly sidelined after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
