Obama to travel for the first time to South America

Barack Obama will travel to Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador early this year, the president announced during State of the Union speech to the Congress on Tuesday night.

According to Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security advisor, the trip would be president’s first visit ever to the South America as a president as well as a private citizen and that it would be an important tour to build partnerships with the three emerging countries, Bloomberg reported.

The president said, he plans to “forge new alliances across the Americas, during his visit.

USA’s ties with Brazil have already been strong in clean energy, global growth and the more recent assistance to Haiti. However, Obama’s visit to Brazil would be focused on exploring more areas of mutual interest, National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer told media.

Visit to Chile would further help America discuss bilateral and regional co-operation among the two countries in matters including nuclear security, clean energy and crisis management, Hammer informed.

The last phase of Obama’s March tour to El Salvador will emphasize the importance of the large number of Salvadorans in the United States who are contributing towards American economy and creating tight links between the two countries, he said.