The link between the United States and Latin America is strengthened. Just in recent days, the President of the United States Barack Obama concluded the journey that took him to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador from 19 to 23 March. Here is the complete tour of Barack Obama in Latin America.
Obama has set several objectives: the rapprochement between the United States and Brazil after the cooling of relations during the Lula Presidency, the consolidation of economic-political-commercial relations with the Latin American states and dialogue on some new projects, collaborations and partnerships.
Obama highlighted, during his visit, the importance of the Latin American subcontinent, which plays an increasingly growing role not only for the US economy but also in the global arena, praising its progress. South America's growth is also helping the United States: thanks to trade agreements with the region, the United States now exports to South America three times as much as it does to China. In the immediate future, the increase in demand for products and services from the United States and the consequent opening of new markets will allow American companies to further expand their business, resulting in an increase of two million jobs: Latin America, according to Obama, it has never been more important than now for the United States.
Washington's intention is to double exports by 2014. Last year exports made in the USA vis-à-vis South America they grew by 17%, while in Brazil alone they increased by more than 30%, exceeding USD 50 billion. With Chile, however, whose economy grew more than 5% last year, a Free Trade Agreement has been in place since 2004 which has allowed an export boom in the Andean Country of up to +300% since then.
During the visit to Brasilia, new agreements were also defined in view of the next 2014 World Cup and the next 2016 Olympics which will be held in Brazil: the United States will offer their support and know how, focusing on strategic development planning, infrastructure, security, tourism and commercial enterprises.
The new Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff supported the need for fairer and more balanced trade relations, stressing the urgency of breaking down the barriers that hinder some Brazilian products, such as meat, ethanol, steel and orange juice. Furthermore, the two Presidents also put the definition of a common strategy in the oil sector on the agenda. But Brazil didn't limit itself to this: perfectly aware of its new role in the global arena, the meeting with Obama served precisely to openly request a seat on the UN Security Council and look for a fundamental ally in Washington (to be underlined the common position of the BRICs which, together with Germany, abstained in the vote that led the UN to approve the armed interventions against Libya). Obama himself said that in the face of the new challenges of the 21st century, the United Nations Security Council would need to be reformed.
The US President concluded his speech in Brazil with an eloquent "We are all Americans". The hope is that the era of Latin America's "backyard" will definitely end.
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