United States presidential visits to South America

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The countries of South America and their capitals Map of South America.png
The countries of South America and their capitals

Eleven United States presidents and one president-elect have made presidential visits to South America. The first trip was made by Herbert Hoover (as president-elect) in 1928. During this tour he delivered twenty-five speeches in ten Central and South American countries, almost all of which stressed his plans to reduce American political and military interference in Latin American affairs. In sum, he pledged that the United States would act as a "good neighbor." [1] [2]

Contents

The first official visits by a sitting president were those of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and were an offshoot of Allied diplomatic interactions during World War II. Of the 12 independent countries on the continent, all but Bolivia, Guyana and Paraguay have been visited by an American president. Ecuador has only been visited by a president elect.

Table of visits

PresidentDatesCountriesLocationsKey details
Herbert Hoover [3] December 1, 1928Flag of Ecuador (1900-2009).svg  Ecuador Guayaquil Met with President Isidro Ayora. [4]
December 5, 1928Flag of Peru (1825-1884).svg  Peru Lima Met with President Augusto B. Leguía. [4]
December 8–11, 1928Flag of Chile.svg  Chile Antofagasta, Santiago Met with President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo. Met with Bolivian diplomats to discuss the ongoing Tacna–Arica dispute. [4] [5]
December 13–15, 1928Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina Buenos Aires Met with President Hipólito Yrigoyen. [6] Also reported to (U.S.) President Calvin Coolidge on the success of his tour via telegraph. [7]
December 16–18, 1928Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay Montevideo Met with President Juan Campisteguy, and addressed the National Council of Administration. [4]
December 21–23, 1928Flag of Brazil (1889-1960).svg  Brazil Rio de Janeiro Met with President Washington Luís; addressed the National Congress and the Supreme Federal Court. [8]
Franklin D. Roosevelt [9] July 10, 1934Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia Cartagena Informal visit en route to vacation in Hawaii.
November 27, 1936Flag of Brazil (1889-1960).svg  Brazil Rio de JaneiroAddressed the National Congress of Brazil.
November 30 – December 2, 1936Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina Buenos AiresAttended session of Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Peace.
December 3, 1936Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay MontevideoOfficial visit. Met with President Gabriel Terra.
January 12, 1943Flag of Brazil (1889-1960).svg  Brazil Belém Overnight stop en route to Casablanca.
January 28, 1943 Natal Informal visit (following Casablanca Conference); met with President Getúlio Vargas.
Harry S. Truman [10] September 1–7, 1947Rio de JaneiroState visit; addressed Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Continental Peace and Security and the Brazilian Congress.
Dwight D. Eisenhower [11] February 23–26, 1960 Brasília
Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo
Met with President Juscelino Kubitschek and addressed Brazilian Congress.
February 26–29, 1960Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata, San Carlos de Bariloche Met with President Arturo Frondizi.
February 29 –
March 2, 1960
Flag of Chile.svg  Chile SantiagoMet with President Jorge Alessandri.
March 2–3, 1960Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay MontevideoMet with President Benito Nardone.
John F. Kennedy [12] December 16–17, 1961Flag of Venezuela (1930-1954).svg  Venezuela Caracas Met with President Rómulo Betancourt.
December 17, 1961Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia Bogota Met with President Alberto Lleras Camargo.
Lyndon B. Johnson [13] April 11–14, 1967Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay Punta del Este Summit Meeting with Latin American Heads of State.
April 14, 1967Flag of Suriname (1959-1975).svg  Suriname Paramaribo Refuelling stop en route from Uruguay.
Jimmy Carter [14] March 28–29, 1978Flag of Venezuela (1930-1954).svg  Venezuela CaracasMet with President Carlos Andrés Pérez. Addressed Congress and signed maritime boundary agreement.
March 29–31, 1978Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil Brasília, Rio de JaneiroOfficial visit; met with President Ernesto Geisel and addressed Brazilian Congress.
Ronald Reagan [15] November 30 –
December 3, 1982
Brasilia, São PauloOfficial working visit; met with President João Figueiredo.
December 3, 1982Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia BogotaOfficial Working Visit. Met with President Belisario Betancur.
George H. W. Bush [16] February 15, 1990CartagenaAttended Summit Meeting on the control of illicit drug trafficking with President Virgilio Barco Vargas, Bolivian President Jaime Paz Zamora and Peruvian President Alan García.
December 3–4, 1990Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil BrasiliaMet with President Fernando Collor de Mello and addressed a Joint Session of the Brazilian Congress.
December 4–5, 1990Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay MontevideoMet with President Luis Alberto Lacalle. Addressed a Joint Session of the Uruguayan Congress.
December 5–6, 1990Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina Buenos AiresMet with President Carlos Menem and addressed a Joint Session of the Argentine National Congress.
December 6–7, 1990Flag of Chile.svg  Chile SantiagoMet with President Patricio Aylwin and addressed a Joint Session of the Chilean National Congress.
December 7–8, 1990Flag of Venezuela (1930-1954).svg  Venezuela CaracasMet with President Carlos Andrés Pérez.
June 12–13, 1992Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil Rio de JaneiroAttended the Earth Summit meeting.
Bill Clinton [17] October 12–13, 1997Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela CaracasMet with President Rafael Caldera.
October 13–15, 1997Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil Brasilia, São Paulo, Rio de JaneiroMet with President Fernando Henrique Cardoso; delivered several public addresses
October 15–18, 1997Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina Buenos Aires, Bariloche Met with President Menem; delivered several public addresses.
April 16–19, 1998Flag of Chile.svg  Chile SantiagoState visit. Attended the 2nd Summit of the Americas.
August 30, 1998Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia CartagenaMet with President Andrés Pastrana Arango.
George W. Bush [18] March 23–24, 2002Flag of Peru.svg  Peru LimaMet with the Presidents of Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia, and with the Vice President of Ecuador.
November 19–22, 2004Flag of Chile.svg  Chile SantiagoAttended 16th APEC Summit.
November 22, 2004Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia CartagenaMet with President Álvaro Uribe.
November 3–5, 2005Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina Mar del Plata Attended 4th Summit of the Americas.
November 5–6, 2005Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil BrasiliaMet with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
March 8–9, 2007São PauloMet with President Lula da Silva.
March 9–11, 2007Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay MontevideoMet with President Tabaré Vázquez.
March 11, 2007Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia BogotaMet with President Álvaro Uribe.
November 21–23, 2008Flag of Peru.svg  Peru LimaAttended the APEC Summit Meeting.
Barack Obama March 19–21, 2011Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil Brasilia, Rio de JaneiroMet with President Dilma Rousseff. [19]
March 21–22, 2011Flag of Chile.svg  Chile SantiagoMet with President Sebastián Piñera. [19]
April 13–15, 2012Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia CartagenaAttended the 6th Summit of the Americas. [19] Attended a leaders' dinner at the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas prior to the meeting. [20] Announced, along with President Juan Manuel Santos, that the United States–Colombia Free Trade Agreement would take effect May 15, 2012. [21]
March 23–24, 2016Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina Buenos Aires, BarilocheOfficial visit. Met with President Mauricio Macri. Laid a wreath at the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral. [22]
November 18–20, 2016Flag of Peru.svg  Peru LimaAttended the APEC Summit Meeting.
Donald Trump November 29 – December 1, 2018Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina Buenos AiresAttended the G20 summit.

Travels of former presidents

Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt, along with Cândido Rondon, explorered the 1000-mile long "River of Doubt" (later renamed Rio Roosevelt) located in a remote area of the Amazon basin in 1913–14. Sponsored in part by the American Museum of Natural History, they also collected many new animal and insect specimens. [23]

Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter, along with Carter Center personnel, met with São Paulo Governor José Serra and former president Fernando Cardoso; received special human rights award; and met with a roundtable of preeminent business and financial leaders in São Paulo. Also met with President Lula da Silva, Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, and other Brazilian leaders in Brasilia, May 3–4, 2009. [24]

See also

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References

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  2. Deconde, Alexander (March 1950). "Herbert Hoover's Good Will Tour". Historian. 12 (2): 167–181. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6563.1950.tb00106.x.
  3. Travels of President Herbert C. Hoover U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Archived 2011-10-16 at the Wayback Machine
  4. 1 2 3 4 Hoover, Herbert (1974). "Supplement IV – Addresses During a Trip to Central and South America". Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Herbert Hoover. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office. pp. 615–642. Archived from the original on August 3, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
  5. DeConde, Alexander (1951). Herbert Hoover's Latin-American Policy. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. p. 36. ISBN   9780804713436 . Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  6. Kinsley, Philip (December 15, 1928). "Silent Hoover Wins Argentine Man of Silence: President Irigoyen Made Friend of U. S." Chicago Daily Tribune . p. 1. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  7. "Good Will Tour Success, Hoover Wires Coolidge: Uses Direct Cable Line from Buenos Aires". Chicago Daily Tribune . December 16, 1928. p. 3. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  8. Jeansonne, Glen (2012). The Life of Herbert Hoover: Fighting Quaker, 1928-1933. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 44–45. ISBN   978-1-137-34673-5 . Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  9. Travels of President Franklin D. Roosevelt U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Archived 2011-11-09 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Travels of President Harry S. Truman U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Archived 2011-11-09 at the Wayback Machine
  11. Travels of President Dwight D. Eisenhower U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Archived 2011-12-05 at the Wayback Machine
  12. "Travels of President John F. Kennedy". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  13. Travels of President Lyndon B. Johnson U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Archived 2011-12-18 at the Wayback Machine
  14. Travels of President Jimmy Carter U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Archived 2011-12-06 at the Wayback Machine
  15. Travels of President Ronald Reagan U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Archived 2011-11-09 at the Wayback Machine
  16. Travels of President George H. W. Bush U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Archived 2011-11-09 at the Wayback Machine
  17. Travels of President Bill Clinton U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Archived 2011-10-16 at the Wayback Machine
  18. Travels of President George W. Bush U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Archived 2011-10-16 at the Wayback Machine
  19. 1 2 3 "Travels of President Barack Obama". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  20. "Barack Obama's bodyguards sent home from Colombia summit amid prostitution allegations". The Telegraph. London. April 14, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  21. Al Sema, Adriaan (April 15, 2012). "Obama, Santos confirm US-Colombia trade pact takes effect May 15". Colombia Reports. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  22. Lahrichi, Kamilla; Zoroya, Gregg (March 23, 2016). "Obama says top priority is to defeat Islamic State". USA Today. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  23. Brooke, Michael (February 25, 1992). "In T. R.'s Footsteps, Scientists Embark on Amazonian Expedition". The New York Times .
  24. "Trip Report by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil: April 27–May 5, 2009". cartercenter.org. Atlanta, Georgia: The Carter Center.