The presidents of France and Mexico kick-started relations between their nations on Thursday, putting behind past strains caused by the case of a Frenchwoman accused of kidnapping.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto treated visiting French leader Francois Hollande to the full honors of a state visit, with cannon salvos at the Campo Marte military field in Mexico City.
"Our two countries share a long, sometimes tumultuous, history, but always respectful," Hollande said at the start of his two-day visit.
"There could have been difficult moments but we have the conviction that we are opening a new page in relations between our two countries," he said.
Pena Nieto recalled that the two leaders had already agreed in a meeting in Paris in October 2012 to "give a renewed momentum" to bilateral relations.
But before Hollande's trip had even started, a tweet by his jilted former partner Valerie Trierweiler supporting a woman who says her Mexican ex-husband abducted their children threatened to throw a spanner in the works.
Trierweiler, who had kept a low profile since Hollande dumped her earlier this year after revelations he had an affair with an actress, tweeted her support for Maude Versini "who has not seen her three children for 847 days, held by their father in Mexico."
"Let's help her. @francediplo must act," she said in the tweet, referring to the name of the Twitter account of France's foreign ministry.
Versini's ex-husband is Arturo Montiel, a powerful politician who is close to Pena Nieto.
Montiel was included in Forbes' list of the 10 most corrupt Mexicans last year, with the magazine saying he dropped out of the presidential race in 2005 "following allegations of millionaire mansions and bank transactions in Mexico and France."
In a radio interview, Versini said her husband "does not hesitate to use all his influence, to buy out judges, he is scared of nothing and feels he is above the law."
It is unclear whether Hollande will bring up the sensitive issue with Pena Nieto, but what is certain is that the two countries will sign 30 agreements during the visit in fields ranging from aerospace to energy, security and education.
French officials say a key part of the trip will be to turn the page for good on the strains caused by the arrest of Florence Cassez in 2005, when different governments were in power in both nations.
The Frenchwoman was sentenced to 60 years in prison over her alleged involvement with a gang of kidnappers that was led by her ex-boyfriend.
Relations reached a low in February 2011, when Mexican authorities pulled out of a "Year of Mexico" cultural event in France after then-president Nicolas Sarkozy wanted to dedicate it to Cassez, angering his Mexican counterpart, Felipe Calderon.
After seven years behind bars, Cassez was released and returned to France in January 2013 when the Supreme Court ruled that police had violated her rights by broadcasting her arrest on national television.
The presidents of France and Mexico kick-started relations between their nations on Thursday, putting behind past strains caused by the case of a Frenchwoman accused of kidnapping.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto treated visiting French leader Francois Hollande to the full honors of a state visit, with cannon salvos at the Campo Marte military field in Mexico City.
“Our two countries share a long, sometimes tumultuous, history, but always respectful,” Hollande said at the start of his two-day visit.
“There could have been difficult moments but we have the conviction that we are opening a new page in relations between our two countries,” he said.
Pena Nieto recalled that the two leaders had already agreed in a meeting in Paris in October 2012 to “give a renewed momentum” to bilateral relations.
But before Hollande’s trip had even started, a tweet by his jilted former partner Valerie Trierweiler supporting a woman who says her Mexican ex-husband abducted their children threatened to throw a spanner in the works.
Trierweiler, who had kept a low profile since Hollande dumped her earlier this year after revelations he had an affair with an actress, tweeted her support for Maude Versini “who has not seen her three children for 847 days, held by their father in Mexico.”
“Let’s help her. @francediplo must act,” she said in the tweet, referring to the name of the Twitter account of France’s foreign ministry.
Versini’s ex-husband is Arturo Montiel, a powerful politician who is close to Pena Nieto.
Montiel was included in Forbes’ list of the 10 most corrupt Mexicans last year, with the magazine saying he dropped out of the presidential race in 2005 “following allegations of millionaire mansions and bank transactions in Mexico and France.”
In a radio interview, Versini said her husband “does not hesitate to use all his influence, to buy out judges, he is scared of nothing and feels he is above the law.”
It is unclear whether Hollande will bring up the sensitive issue with Pena Nieto, but what is certain is that the two countries will sign 30 agreements during the visit in fields ranging from aerospace to energy, security and education.
French officials say a key part of the trip will be to turn the page for good on the strains caused by the arrest of Florence Cassez in 2005, when different governments were in power in both nations.
The Frenchwoman was sentenced to 60 years in prison over her alleged involvement with a gang of kidnappers that was led by her ex-boyfriend.
Relations reached a low in February 2011, when Mexican authorities pulled out of a “Year of Mexico” cultural event in France after then-president Nicolas Sarkozy wanted to dedicate it to Cassez, angering his Mexican counterpart, Felipe Calderon.
After seven years behind bars, Cassez was released and returned to France in January 2013 when the Supreme Court ruled that police had violated her rights by broadcasting her arrest on national television.
