Whack-a-mole: U.S., Mexico Meet in Strained Times

U.S., Mexico Meet in Strained Times - WSJ.com: "Mr. Calderón's visit, announced last week, also comes after a spate of ill-timed comments by U.S. officials about Mexico's drug violence. Among them are that Mexican drug gangs could be allied with Islamic terrorists and that drug traffickers could overthrow the Mexican state, forcing the U.S. to send troops. Such statements have enraged Mexican officials, who are notoriously sensitive to any suggestion of U.S. interference in national affairs.

'I don't recall this kind of bad blood in a long time,' said Jorge Castañeda, a former Mexican foreign minister. ...

Most analysts believe that despite the frayed relations the ties between the two countries run so deep and are so complex that both governments realize their interests far outweigh the present ill will. "There is a shared recognition that the mutual interests are too important to let tensions overwhelm them," said Andrew Selee, director of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington."