During his visits with the Mexicans running Mexico, one of Nicolas Sarkozy's big sound bites was, "El mundo espera más de México." The word "espera" could be translated as either "expects" or "anticipates." If it's the former, the phrase is a scolding, "The world expects more from Mexico." If it's the latter, it's a much more encouraging, "The world anticipates more from Mexico." The scolding version makes some sense given Sarkozy's reported displeasure with the 60-year sentence given to a French citizen for her role in a kidnapping gang, as will as his admonition to fight drug trafficking within the confines of democracy. On the other hand, Sarkozy was otherwise very supportive (Pres Sarko told the host nation at one point, "You are not alone") and it seems like it was a generally friendly visit.
The visit did produce one fantastic picture, on display here (right side of the front page). Below the title "The Center of Attention", Finance Secretary Agustín Carstens appears to quite taken with what appears to be the quite flirty walk of the French First Lady. It reminds me a bit of an episode I read about at some point several years ago (I believe in Enrique Krauze's fantastic Mexico: Biography of Power). I don't have the details 100 percent clear, but the gist of it was that a president's adult son (I think it was either Miguel Alemán or Manuel Ávila Camacho, but I may be off) was photographed oggling a French model in a low-cut dress while his (very unhappy) wife looked on. The photo ran on the front page of a Mexico City newspaper, which was shut down shortly thereafter.
And because the song is still stuck in my head, let's listen to Bruni's "Quelqu'un m'a dit" once more.
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