Source: Yahoo! News
Wire Service: AP
On October 1, 2004 the Associated Press reported, "The Dalai Lama brought his message of peace to presidential offices across Central America this week, urging harmony in a world he says is in crisis because of war, fear and intolerance. But when he arrives in Mexico on Sunday, a meeting with President Vicente Fox won't be on the itinerary. Instead, Interior Secretary Santiago Creel will meet the 68-year-old exiled spiritual leader of Tibet on behalf of Mexico, which has been quick to say it views the Dalai Lama as a religious leader — not a political one. The issue is sensitive for this country, which has a long tradition of not taking sides in international conflicts and is trying to expand political and economic relations with China... The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, will address Mexico's lower House of Congress as an invited guest. The visit prompted China to send a letter of protest to the House's leadership committee in May, asking its members to rescind their offer to the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Legislators responded with a missive saying 'the presence of the religious leader is not a foreign affairs issue.'"