MEXICO CITY — Michelle Obama stepped from her black sport utility vehicle and into a sea of screams, cheers and squeals of delight that filled the sun-splashed courtyard of a public elementary school Wednesday in Mexico’s capital.
Dozens of 6- to 12-year-old students — some in costumes, others in gym clothes — welcomed America’s first lady with a show.
One group dressed as Aztecs in white paper costumes and caps with multicolored feathers performed a Mexican ritual dance. Another did calisthenics for Obama, whose cause at home is a campaign against childhood obesity.
“That was beautiful, everything you did,” said the first lady, whose two-day visit is her first ever to Mexico. “I loved the singing. I loved the dancing. I loved to see you all moving and exercising.”
There was one small request, though. “Before I leave, I need some hugs,” Obama said. Wading into one of the groups, the tall first lady bent at the waist to embrace the kids.
Obama came to Mexico to launch an international effort to engage young people everywhere and encourage them to become leaders and problem-solvers in their communities.
Nearly half the population in Mexico, for example, is younger than 25. Worldwide, people ages 15-24 make up 20 percent, or one-fifth, of the population, she said in a speech that amounted to a call to action.
Addressing some 2,000 invited high school and college students gathered in an outdoor plaza at Universidad Iberoamericana, Obama said ordinary citizens, including young people, must step up to help governments and world leaders like her husband solve everything from poverty and hunger to climate change and extremism.
“The fact is that responsibility for meeting the defining challenges of our time will soon fall to all of you,” she said.
Missing from the speech, which was shown on huge screens erected in the plaza, was any mention of the drug problems plaguing Mexico and what young people might do about it.
The issue came up earlier in the day during a private, 45-minute meeting with Margarita Zavala, the wife of President Felipe Calderon, at the presidential residence Los Pinos. The two first ladies discussed drug-addiction treatment and early-prevention programs, Obama’s office said.
