The neighbor Americans believe they have to the south, and the Mexico that has developed over the last 20 years, are two different places. As Mexico’s incoming president Enrique Peña Nieto meets with President Obama this week, the biggest challenge facing relations today may be our skewed perceptions.In Americans’ psyches, drugs dominate. When advertising firm GSD&M and Vianovo strategic consultants asked Americans to come up with three words that describe Mexico, nearly every other person answered “drugs,” followed by “poor” and “unsafe.” Other questions reveal Americans see Mexico as corrupt, unstable and violent, more problem than partner. Americans had more favorable views of Greece, El Salvador and Russia.via Column: Mexico isn’t a gangland...

President Barack Obama welcomes Mexico’s president-elect Enrique Peña Nieto this week amid Mexican belief that it is their moment even as their country struggles with drug cartel violence and a continuing negative image in America.Mexico’s optimism is bolstered by a growing middle class, a stabilizing security situation and the prospects for energy and institutional reforms that leaders believe strengthen the country’s economic, political and hemispheric influence.“Mexico, in spite of a long season of security and violence stories, is attracting investment,” says Antonio Garza, a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico and now in private practice for an American law firm in Mexico City.via Enrique Peña Nieto, Mexico President, Visits U.S. Eager To Leave Country’s Negative Image...