President Felipe Calderon will head to France in a few days to attend the G-20 summit in Cannes. Mexico, Argentina and Brazil will hold up the banner for Latin America among the world’s most powerful economies. Protests, like one today in Paris seen in AP photo above, are likely.

For Calderon, it’s a big summit. He’ll come home as the rotating president of the G-20, taking the baton from France’s Nicolas Sarkozy, and presiding over the group at a time of global economic instability.

Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa spoke out about this at a press briefing yesterday, noting that Mexico will host the next G-20 summit June 18-19 in Los Cabos, the Baja California resort city.

The dates of the summit have become a political hot potato in Mexico.

Earlier this week, the entire Chamber of Deputies passed a motion asking Calderon to postpone the G-20 summit. The reason? It would come less than two weeks before July 1 presidential elections.

“The media exposure that the president would get just days before the election would be unbeatable. Over a period of four days, this event will occupy all the television, radio, print and digital spaces,” the statement said.

Espinosa’s response to the deputies: Fuhgeddaboutit. 

“The days selected were the result of a long process of consultations with all the chiefs of state and government that comprise the group,” she said. “The dates were chosen not only to respect the regularity observed previously but also to maintain the sense of urgency needed during the difficult phase unfolding in the global economy.”

Mexico is determined, she said, to play a decisive role in global economic recovery.