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.
Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of waging a campaign for Tibet's independence. The Buddhist leader has lived in exile in Dharamsala, India, since a failed Tibetan uprising against China in 1959. He has visited 52 countries, and last came to Mexico in 1989.
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.''
Beijing wasn't finished. At a House event Wednesday, China's ambassador to Mexico, Ren Jingyu, said the Dalai Lama shouldn't be allowed to spread his messages on Mexican soil.
Tomas Cruz, president of a congressional association dedicated to strengthening Chinese-Mexican relations, said the Dalai Lama was a Nobel Peace Prize winner and noted international figure who had a right to visit lawmakers.
``It's a spiritual visit that should and does include an official appearance, a brief visit to the House,'' Cruz said. ``Leaders in China aren't happy, but they understand that we in the Legislature are not recognizing any political authority for the Dalai Lama.''
Legislator Alberto Aguilar said very few in Mexico supported the idea of a meeting between Fox and the Dalai Lama because it would violate the country's traditionally isolationist stance.
``Mexico does not get involved in foreign affairs of that nature,'' he said.
The Dalai Lama's four-day Mexican trip wraps up a tour of the Americas that took him to Florida, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala.
In Central America, a region that doesn't have Mexico's isolationist traditions, little objection was raised when the Dalai Lama met with current and former heads of state in El Salvador and Costa Rica.
On Thursday, he chatted with Salvadoran religious leaders and was scheduled to travel to Guatemala on Friday.
Aides said his trip to Mexico would be a success even without meeting Fox.
``We need other visions of the world, visions that are more tolerant and less intransigent because it's difficult for mankind to change,'' said Maria Elena Sol, an organizer of the Dalai Lama's Salvadoran visit. ``When you have an important leader like the Dalai Lama present, the change within each individual becomes easier.''
While in Mexico, the Dalai Lama plans to give a public workshop on ethics and lead a massive prayer for peace in the National Cathedral in historic downtown Mexico City.
He is also scheduled to meet with the capital's mayor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, an early front-runner in the 2006 presidential race.
The Chinese government accuses the Dalai Lama of agitating for independence for Tibet, though the Dalai Lama has said he wants only more autonomy for the region in order to preserve its religion and culture.
He also has previously acknowledged that Tibet is part of China, but Beijing now demands the Dalai Lama also declare Taiwan as part of the People's Republic of China.