WASHINGTON: A nuclear crisis in Japan, fighting in Libya, turmoil in the Mideast and the threat of a government shutdown at home. It's a tough time for President Barack Obama to leave on a foreign trip — to Latin America. Over the next five days, Obama is to travel to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador in what the White House is casting as a mission to build job-creating opportunities for the United States and to address regional security concerns. The trip, considered by many in the hemisphere as long overdue, is also an effort to solidify relationships that have slipped two years after Obama declared “a new chapter of engagement” with the region. In that time, China has expanded its economic footprint in the region and has surpassed the United States as Brazil's top trade partner. Despite the competing, pressing demands on the president's attention, the White House has been determined to proceed with the trip, emphasizing the potential the region holds for US economic growth. “It's imperative that the United States not disengage from these regions,” deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said. “When we disengage, our ability to advance partnerships that serve our interest suffers.” In Latin America, Obama will meet with recently elected Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and El Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes. Each country chosen by the administration offers Obama a different look at a diverse hemisphere. Yet in selecting those three, Obama is reaching out to nations whose political leaders have displayed a pragmatic governing style and where anti-Americanism is on the wane. As such they stand in stark contrast to Venezuela and Bolivia, led by leftist populists known for agitating against the US. At the same time, in Brazil, Chile and El Salvador, he's showcasing three democracies that have emerged from turbulent pasts and that, in the Obama administration's view, serve as examples of a pathway out of the current upheaval in the Middle East. The trip also presents Obama with an opportunity to spell out his doctrine for the region — much like he did for the Middle East in Cairo in June 2009. Obama is saving that moment for Monday in Santiago, Chile, where he will reiterate his goal of engaging with countries in the region as equals, and emphasizing their own role in becoming better neighbors. Obama is not traveling with a basket of ready-made accomplishments or major agreements to feature during the trip. Indeed, when it comes to trade, he embarks on the trip empty-handed. Pending free-trade agreements with Colombia and Panama remain unfinished, provoking demands from the business sector and Republicans that he complete the deals. First Lady Michelle Obama, her mother and the Obamas' two daughters will conduct their own brand of diplomacy on the trip, attending a series of separate events focused on young people, particularly in disadvantaged communities. Obama first traveled to the region in April 2009 when he attended a 34-nation summit in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.
