11 March 2011

Obama to Deliver Major Address to Latin America in Chile

President Obama, right, greets Chilean President Sebastian Piñera during the official arrivals at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington April 12, 2010.

By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer

Washington – President Obama will deliver a major address while in Santiago, Chile, that explains the importance of Latin America to the United States. It will coincide with the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 announcement of the Alliance for Progress that established economic cooperation between the United States and Latin America nations.

At a joint press conference March 10 in Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno discussed bilateral relations and the president’s trip to the region.

Moreno told reporters that “we are delighted with the visit President Obama will do on March 21st to Chile. We feel that this is a significant signal to Chile and to the whole region.”

The two diplomats met at the State Department to complete final preparations for the president’s visit to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador March 19–23.

Moreno said Chile and the United States have many issues of common interest, including education, energy and technology, as well as curbing international crime, caring for the shared environment, human rights and democratic governance, economic development and social inclusion. “We hope to strengthen this partnership between Chile and the U.S., and we are really forward-looking, taking into account the new realities that we have in our region.”

Obama met with President Sebastian Piñera during the April 2010 Global Nuclear Security Summit held in Washington, where the president thanked Chile for promoting nuclear nonproliferation and removing all highly enriched uranium from the country.

Clinton told reporters that the Obama administration holds great admiration for the extraordinary progress that Chile has made. “Its recent history of transitioning to a full democracy is extremely important in today’s world,” she said.

Chile has been an active participant in multilateral efforts to advance peace and stability in the hemisphere, said Peter Meyer, a Latin American affairs analyst with the U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS). “In recent years, Chile has contributed forces to the U.N. mission in Haiti, collaborated on regional counternarcotics efforts and engaged in diplomatic efforts to resolve political crises in Venezuela, Bolivia and Honduras,” Meyer said.

These efforts, Meyer said, have helped provide a moderating influence in the region and advanced policy goals similar to those of the United States.

Clinton said that as the president is clearly demonstrating by making his hemispheric speech from Santiago, the United States is “very proud of our strong bilateral relationship, but we also see the opportunity for Chile to play a role regionally in helping neighbors to understand what it takes to have the kind of positive story that Chile now represents.”

CHILEAN ASSISTANCE

In the aftermath of Chile’s devastating earthquake in February 2010 that killed more than 500 people and affected more than 2 million others, the United States provided $9.8 million in humanitarian assistance. The assistance included a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) team to identify humanitarian needs; relief supplies such as satellite phones, emergency shelters, mobile water-treatment units and electric generators; and the deployment of two U.S. military C-130 cargo planes to transport emergency relief supplies.

And the United States dispatched a NASA team to Chile in October 2010 to assist in the rescue of 33 trapped miners.

“Chile has worked with the United States to advance democracy, human rights and free trade in the Western Hemisphere,” Meyer said in a recent CRS report. “Chile and the United States also maintain strong commercial ties.”

After the implementation of the 2004 free-trade agreement between the United States and Chile, trade more than doubled to $15.3 billion by 2009. The agreement established immediate duty-free treatment for 85 percent of trade in consumer and industrial products. Chile’s top exports to the United States include fruit, copper, seafood, wood and precious stones, while the United States exports to Chile heavy machinery, oil, aircraft, electrical machinery and motor vehicles.

Additional areas of cooperation between the two partners include renewable energy, trade and investment and regional security issues, Meyer said in a recent CRS report on U.S.-Chile relations.

ENERGY COOPERATION

Meyer said Chile in recent years has worked to diversify its energy supply and sought to develop sufficient energy resources from renewable sources. At the Fifth Summit of the Americas in April 2009, Obama introduced the Energy and Climate Partnership for the Americas, which is designed to foster regional cooperation in energy efficiency, renewable energy investment and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

The United States and Chile signed an agreement on cooperation in clean energy technologies in June 2009. That agreement calls for assessments of renewable resource potential; identification of projects suitable for joint research and development; the exchange of scientific and technical information; and the exchange of scientists, engineers and other energy specialists.

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)