When Mexico’s new ambassador to the United States was introduced at a National Press Club luncheon last month, the host quipped that he’d feared no one would show up on a Friday the 13th. But Eduardo Medina-Mora drew a standing-room-only crowd of U.S. and Mexican journalists.

Medina-Mora told the crowd that the United States’ perception of his country needs a makeover. Too much of Mexico’s portrayal in the United States is mistaken, misleading and — he seemed to infer — damaging.

He singled out New York Times columnist Tom Friedman for characterizing Mexico, in a February column, as a blend of the movies “No Country for Old Men” and “The Social Network.” The ambassador found that bizarre. Otherwise, “Tom’s piece is wonderful, but worrying,” Medina-Mora said.

He also said few in the U.S. are aware of the breadth of economic changes in his country and of the excitement those changes are creating.

via Jose De La Isla: U.S. should update perceptions, Mexico’s ambassador says » Abilene Reporter-News.