Why did he even bother?

Not Even Host Enthusiastic About ‘Lame Duck’ Bush
Diego Cevallos (InterPress News Service)

In statements to the leftist daily La Jornada, Calderón said he would never attack the Latin American left at Washington’s behest, and that during his government, Mexico would seek a regional leadership role characterised by “calm consideration, balance and sensibility.”

Regarding Bush’s visit, he said he had no great expectations, although he urged the United States to value its relationship with Mexico as “the most important one it has.” In direct contrast to Washington’s position, he also said that he plans to improve Mexico’s relations with Cuba, and even to visit Fidel Castro, who has temporarily delegated his authority for health reasons.

Columnist and political scientist Sergio Aguayo said that the Calderón administration still needs to clarify how it will handle its relations with the United States. In his opinion, the visit from “such a weak” president as Bush is not helpful towards this end.

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U.S. presidents have visited Mexico more than 70 times since the start of the 20th century, and according to Aguayo, this latest visit by Bush is probably the least transcendent of them all.

InterPress, by the way, is one of the best agencies for news AP and Reuters (and AFP and DIPA and BBC) miss… the part of the planet that’s not the U.S. or Western Europe.