To Cuba?

Pablo Hiriart wonders if Felipe Calderón will make a planned trip to Havana now that Cuba has canceled all flights to Mexico because of the flu. Calling the US embargo "much more benign" than the Cuba's present "blockade" of Mexico, he argues that Calderón should call off the visit with a "bunch of bureaucrats". (Sorry for all the quotes, but the phrasing was extraordinary.)

It'll be interesting to see the government's position on the foreign governments that were the most aggressive in limiting contact with Mexico. I think Calderón would be ill-served and objectively unfair in blowing this out of proportion. The countries that cancelled flights weren't out to punish Mexico, they were scared. These were not provocations per se, they were safety measures taken too far. I can understand the anger from Hiriart and the FMF, but the answer isn't heaping indignation on top of ignorance and overreaction. The foreign-policy goal for Mexico (and the US, for that matter) is to help other nations to a clear-eyed understanding that flights do not constitute a grave threat (assuming that's true). That requires Mexico to turn the other cheek here. Allowing spite to turn this into a diplomatic row serves no one's interests.