MEXICO CITY (AP) - President Barack Obama’s campaign slogan got a recitation in its native tongue from his Mexican counterpart.
“Mr. President, let’s build a new era,” Mexican President Felipe Calderon told Obama through a translator during a welcome ceremony Thursday. “Yes, we can.”
Obama channeled that yes-we-can spirit during his political campaign, borrowing Mexican American farm worker Cesar Chavez’s slogan “Si, se puede.”
Calderon’s nod to the phrase _ in Spanish _ opened Obama’s brief visit.
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Obama praised Mexico’s contributions to his hometown, but he got the numbers a bit wrong.
“In my hometown of Chicago, the population is at least one-third made up of people of Mexican heritage,” Obama said. “All across America, all across the United States, we have benefited from the culture, the language, the food, the insights, the literature, the energy, the ambitions of people who have migrated from our southern neighbor.”
Actually, only about 26 percent of the city’s population considers itself Latino or Hispanic of any national identity or race _ far short of the 33 percent Obama promoted to the cheering audience.
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Obama had trouble with numbers, Calderon with U.S. presidential history.
During his remarks, Calderon invoked President John F. Kennedy and his trip to visit Mexico, repeating an excerpt of a speech other politicians _ including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger _ have used to promote U.S. relationships.
“Almost half a century ago, Mexico welcomed also with thrill and emotion and care President John F. Kennedy. On that occasion, this great statesman said about our relationship: ’Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies. So those whom nature hath so joined together, let no man put asunder.’”
One problem: Calderon didn’t note that Kennedy’s words were first spoken during a May 17, 1961, address to the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa.
For his part, Obama also invoked the Kennedy theme: “It was a reminder, as John F. Kennedy said, that the bonds between our two countries cannot be broken.”
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Obama and Calderon were tardy for their news conference, but the soundtrack to the wait provided entertainment to the White House reporters and their Mexican counterparts.
Instrumental versions of the Bee Gees’ “How Deep is Your Love” and Sade’s “Smooth Operator” were piped into the hall. Also coming into the expansive room: Wham! hit “Careless Whisper” and The Cars’ “Drive.”
(This version CORRECTS typo in Bee Gees’ in last item.))
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