President Barack Obama departed Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this morning and is scheduled to arrive at the international airport in Santiago, Chile, at 12:20 pm (eastern). He will hold a bilateral meeting with Chilean President Sebastián Piñera to be followed by a joint press conference at 2:05 pm (eastern) and a public speech at 3:20 pm (eastern) at the Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda. The speech is being framed as an address to all of Latin America with comparisons drawn to his Cairo speech in June 2009.
Yesterday, in an address to the Brazilian people at Rio de Janeiro’s Teatro Municipal, the President reinforced the U.S.-Brazil partnership, economic ties and cooperation in areas such as infrastructure and energy. Read more AQ Online coverage of his Rio speech including a video of the address.
Today’s speech to all of Latin America is being held in Chile since the “successful transition to democracy and sustained economic growth make it a model for the region and the world,” according to the President in an interview with Chile’s El Mercurio. In light of the unfolding nuclear crisis in Japan, among the issues to come up is the nuclear cooperation agreement signed between U.S. and Chilean officials on Friday.
