Jeremy Schwartz’s Uncovering Mexico Blog has a nice post cataloging his foreign press corps visit with Carlos Slim, an excerpt of which is set forth below:

The talk, which perhaps naturally focused on the financial crisis gripping the U.S., was mostly pleasant, although Slim did get testy when pressed about his personal wealth and monopolistic practices. Here are some highlights:

—Slim urged more flexibility and creativity in dealing with homeowners facing foreclosure, suggesting temporary, interest-only loans as an alternative to seizing a home. “There need to be solutions…that aren’t total punishment,” he said.

—There was much curiosity about Slim’s recent purchase of 6.4 percent of the New York Times’ stock. Many of the ink-stained wretches wondered what Slim saw in newspapers at a time when the industry is suffering through its own crisis. Slim, much to our relief, argued that there will always be a need for quality content regardless of the packaging. “It’s an evolution,” he said of the newspaper business. “The ones that don’t evolve will disappear.”

—Slim took umbrage to any suggestion that his companies were bad for Mexico, lashing out at one reporter: “To think that in poor countries there shouldn’t be strong companies is perverse,” he said. “Why should foreign companies (be the only ones that prosper)…The ideal would be that there were more companies like this.”

—He also turned the tables when asked about monopolistic practices, complaining that Mexican regulators won’t let him run video over phone lines as part of a so-called Triple Play of cable, telephone and Internet service. On the other hand, cable and other phone companies have accused Telmex of charging outrageously high connection costs to hook up to its monolithic network, forcing many would-be fixed line providers out of the market.