This was clearly a machismo thing.

Was it?

Could it also have been a timidity thing? In this country, the pilot(s)
in command has the absolute final say on what goes on in the plane.
It's even written into the FARs. This might not be true in the other
countries. For example (I know, not a parallel), I'm told by pilots who
once flew there that in Mexico, flights have to be dispatched by a
military commander.

These kinds of differences will manifest themselves in training and
attitude in the cockpit. They may have simply been "afraid of the
anticipated mountain of paperwork" not realizing (deep down) that
nothing like that would occur in this country for declaring an emergency
and doing whatever was necessary to meet the emergency.

That would be the opposite of machismo.

Not everything can be blamed on culture.

Jose
--
"Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where
it keeps its brain." (chapter 10 of book 3 - Harry Potter).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.