Striking an optimistic tone, President Obama said that the Mexico is ready to take "its rightful place in the world," moving past the drug battles and violence, which its relationship with the United States, the Associated Press reported.
After traveling to Mexico, President Obama went to Costa Rica.
"A new Mexico is emerging. Mexico is taking its rightful place in the world, on the world stage. Mexico is standing up for democracy not just here in Mexico but throughout the hemisphere," Obama said. "Mexico's sharing expertise with neighbors across the Americas. When they face earthquakes or threats to their citizens or go to the polls to cast their votes, Mexico is there helping its neighbors."
Obama told a large audience of Mexican students that the U.S. deserves some degree of blame in the enmity between the two nations. He said that most guns used to commit crimes in Mexico come from the U.S.
A key cause for Mexico's violence is the demand for illegal drugs in the U.S., Obama said, reiterating his opposition to the legalization of such drugs, which some Latin American leaders have called for, the AP reported.
Obama pressed for the U.S. and Mexico to move beyond the "old stereotypes" of Mexico.
"In this relationship, there's no senior partner or junior partner," he said. "We are two equal partners."
Once he got to Costa Rica on Friday, Obama had meetings and a joint news conference with President Laura Chinchilla, who serves as chair of the regional Central American Integration system. The network includes leaders from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras and Belize.
Many of these countries in Central America have border disputes, particularly Nicaragua and Costa Rica over the San Juan River border.
The president will speak to business leaders before returning to Washington on Saturday.
