Python snippet: Escape unicode characters to be included in XML elements

escape_for_xml.py

#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- encoding: utf8 -*-

def escape_unicode_for_xml(str):
    replacements = (
        ('<', '&lt;'),
        ('>', '&gt;'),
        ('"', '&quot;'),
    )

    for orig, rep in replacements:
        str = str.replace(orig, rep)
    return str

if __name__ == '__main__':
    print escape_unicode_for_xml("Juan Pérez")