List of United States presidential visits to South America

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."

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 detailsHerbert HooverTravels of President Herbert C. Hoover U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Guayaquil Met with President Isidro Ayora.Lima Met with President Augusto B. Leguía.Antofagasta, SantiagoMet with President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo. Met with Bolivian diplomats to discuss the ongoing Tacna–Arica dispute.Buenos AiresMet with President Hipólito Yrigoyen. Also reported to (U.S.) President Calvin Coolidge on the success of his tour via telegraph.MontevideoMet with President Juan Campisteguy, and addressed the National Council of Administration.Rio de JaneiroMet with President Washington Luís; addressed the National Congress and the Supreme Federal Court.Franklin D. RooseveltTravels of President Franklin D. Roosevelt U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Cartagena Informal visit en route to vacation in Hawaii.Rio de JaneiroAddressed the National Congress of Brazil.Buenos AiresAttended session of Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Peace.MontevideoOfficial visit. Met with President Gabriel Terra.BelémOvernight stop en route to Casablanca.NatalInformal visit (following Casablanca Conference); met with President Getúlio Vargas.Harry S. TrumanTravels of President Harry S. Truman U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Rio de JaneiroState visit; addressed Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Continental Peace and Security and the Brazilian Congress.Dwight D. EisenhowerTravels of President Dwight D. Eisenhower U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian BrasíliaRio de Janeiro, São PauloMet with President Juscelino Kubitschek and addressed Brazilian Congress.Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata, San Carlos de Bariloche Met with President Arturo Frondizi. SantiagoMet with President Jorge Alessandri.MontevideoMet with President Benito Nardone.John F. KennedyCaracasMet with President Rómulo Betancourt.BogotáMet with President Alberto Lleras Camargo.Lyndon B. JohnsonTravels of President Lyndon B. Johnson U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Punta del Este Summit Meeting with Latin American Heads of State. ParamariboRefuelling stop en route from Uruguay. Jimmy CarterTravels of President Jimmy Carter U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian CaracasMet with President Carlos Andrés Pérez. Addressed Congress and signed maritime boundary agreement.Brasília, Rio de JaneiroOfficial visit; met with President Ernesto Geisel and addressed Brazilian Congress.Ronald ReaganTravels of President Ronald Reagan U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Brasília, São PauloOfficial working visit; met with President João Figueiredo.BogotáOfficial Working Visit. Met with President Belisario Betancur.George H. W. BushTravels of President George H. W. Bush U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian CartagenaAttended Summit Meeting on the control of illicit drug trafficking with President Virgilio Barco Vargas, Bolivian President Jaime Paz Zamora and Peruvian President Alan García.BrasíliaMet with President Fernando Collor de Mello and addressed a Joint Session of the Brazilian Congress.Montevideo Met with President Luis Alberto Lacalle. Addressed a Joint Session of the Uruguayan General Assembly.Buenos AiresMet with President Carlos Menem and addressed a Joint Session of the Argentine National Congress. SantiagoMet with President Patricio Aylwin and addressed a Joint Session of the Chilean National Congress. CaracasMet with President Carlos Andrés Pérez. Rio de JaneiroAttended the Earth Summit meeting.Bill ClintonTravels of President Bill Clinton U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian CaracasMet with President Rafael Caldera.Brasília, São Paulo, Rio de JaneiroMet with President Fernando Henrique Cardoso; delivered several public addressesBuenos Aires, BarilocheMet with President Menem; delivered several public addresses. SantiagoState visit. Attended the 2nd Summit of the Americas.CartagenaMet with President Andrés Pastrana Arango. George W. BushTravels of President George W. Bush U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian LimaMet with the Presidents of Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia, and with the Vice President of Ecuador. SantiagoAttended 16th APEC Summit.CartagenaMet with President Álvaro Uribe.Mar del PlataAttended 4th Summit of the Americas.BrasíliaMet with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.São PauloMet with President Lula da Silva.MontevideoMet with President Tabaré Vázquez.BogotáMet with President Álvaro Uribe. LimaAttended the APEC Summit Meeting.Barack Obama Brasília, Rio de JaneiroMet with President Dilma Rousseff. SantiagoMet with President Sebastián Piñera.CartagenaAttended the 6th Summit of the Americas. Attended a leaders' dinner at the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas prior to the meeting. Announced, along with President Juan Manuel Santos, that the United States–Colombia Free Trade Agreement would take effect May 15, 2012.Buenos Aires, BarilocheOfficial visit. Met with President Mauricio Macri. Laid a wreath at the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral.LimaAttended the APEC Summit Meeting.Donald TrumpBuenos AiresAttended the G20 summit.Joe BidenLimaAttended the APEC Summit Meeting.Rio de Janeiro, ManausAttended the G20 summit. It was the first time a sitting American president had visited the Amazon.

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. 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.

See also Foreign policy of the United States Latin America–United States relations

References