President Barack Obama is scheduled to arrive Saturday in Brazil to start a five-day Latin America trip also taking him to Chile and El Salvador. Mr. Obama wants to send the message the United States intends to step up its engagement, while respecting the political, economic and social agendas governments are pursuing in the region.
美国总统奥巴马计划星期六抵达巴西，开始对拉丁美洲进行为期五天的访问。奥巴马访问巴西之后，还将访问智利和萨尔瓦多。奥巴马希望向拉美地区传达的信息是，美国有意增加地区接触，同时尊重地区国家政府的政治、经济和社会的政策目标。
The president announced his Latin America trip during his State of the Union Address to Congress in January. “This March, I will travel to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador to forge new alliances across the Americas,"
奥巴马今年1月向国会发表国情咨文演说时宣布即将对拉美这三个国家进行访问。他说：“今年3月，我将前往巴西、智利和萨尔瓦多进行访问，在拉美各地建立新的联盟。”
It will be his first visit to South and Central America, a region of broad political and economic diversity, and the focus of fierce global competition for investment, exports, and influence.
这是奥巴马首次对南美洲和中美洲地区进行访问。这两个地区政治和经济形态非常不同，国际投资、产品出口和影响力的竞争也十分激烈。
Preparations have been underway for months. In February, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner visited economic powerhouse Brazil, the largest country on the continent and the world's 7th-largest economy.
本次访问的准备工作已经进行了几个月。今年2月，美国财政部长盖特纳访问了经济高速发展的巴西。巴西是世界第7大经济体，也是南美洲最大的国家。
After talks in Washington with Brazil's foreign minister, Antonio Patriota, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton previewed some of the Obama agenda.
美国国务卿克林顿在华盛顿与巴西外长帕特里奥塔(Antonio Patriota)举行会谈之后阐述了奥巴马总统本次访问的一些目标。
"We are cooperating closely and our bilateral work on issues and global challenges, including food security and human rights, and clean energy and global inequality, is key to both of us and we will explore even additional ways to pursue our common interests and our common values,”she said.
她说：“我们的合作密切。双方就粮食安全、人权、清洁能源和全球性不平等等全球性挑战议题所进行的合作对两国都非常重要。我们将继续设法寻求共同利益和共同的价值观。”
Themes in all three countries include the consolidation of democracy, open and accountable government, civil rights, gender equality, and social inclusion.
奥巴马对这三个国家的访问主题包括巩固民主、推动政府的开放和问责制、倡导民权、鼓励性别平等和社会包容。
In Rio de Janeiro, President Obama will address the people of Brazil. He is also expected to visit a "favela", one of the squatter slums Brazil's government has been trying to wrest from the control of criminal and drug gangs.
奥巴马在里约热内卢将向巴西民众发表讲话。他还预计参观一个平民窟，巴西政府正在那里与犯罪集团和贩毒团伙争夺控制权。
School of International Service Dean Louis Goodman, of the The American University in Washington says the first African-American president of the United States should be able to deliver an effective message to Latin American countries still struggling with a past marked by social inequalities.
华盛顿美利坚大学(American University)国际服务系主任古德曼(Louis Goodman)说，奥巴马作为非洲裔美国总统向努力摆脱社会不平等的拉美国家发表的讲话应该能够产生强烈的效果。
"Brazil historically has been one of most uneven countries in the world and while it is making progress, it is less uneven today in 2011 than it was in 2009 for example, it still has a way to go. And while Chile has made social progress it also has a way to go,”he said.
他说：“巴西历史上就是世界上社会差异最为悬殊的国家之一。尽管巴西出现了进步，但依然有很长的路要走。比如说，巴西今年的社会不平等就比2009年严重。智利也取得了社会进步，但还远远不够。”
Mr. Obama's discussions with President Dilma Rousseff and American and Brazilian business executives will focus on areas of opportunity in renewable and sustainable energy, science and technology, education and innovation, also key priorities for Mr. Obama in the U.S. economic recovery.
奥巴马总统将与巴西总统罗塞芙、巴西商界和美国商业领袖举行会谈，焦点是探索可再生能源、可持续性能源、科技、教育与创新等领域的合作，这也是奥巴马振兴美国经济的关键领域。
Major oil and natural gas finds in Brazil are also of interest to the United States, something Mr. Obama mentioned in a recent news conference about rising energy prices.
美国同时对巴西石油和天然气的大型蕴藏感兴趣。奥巴马最近就能源价格上涨举行记者会时就谈到了这点。
“When it comes to imported oil, we are strengthening our key energy relationships with other producer nations, something that I will discuss with President Rousseff when I visit next week," he said.
他说：“我们正在加强同其他产油国建立关键的能源关系。我下星期访问巴西时，将同罗塞芙总统讨论这个问题。”
Brazil's ambassador in Washington, Mauro Vieira, says his government seeks more "balance" in bilateral trade, and mentions differences on global-trade issues. But he says the important thing is that both sides continue talking.
巴西驻美大使维埃拉(Mauro Vieira)说，巴西政府寻求更加平衡的双边关系，两国并在全球贸易议题上存在分歧。但重要的是，双方继续就此展开磋商。
“We discuss all issues, those [on] which we agree, and even those in which we do not agree completely, but the important thing is not agreeing always, the important thing is to discuss, to have an open dialogue and to find ways to have a consensus on a very wide agenda,”he said.
他说：“我们将讨论所有问题，包括立场一致和并不完全一致的问题。重要的是不要永远一致，重要的是交流，公开对话，就广泛的议题寻求一致。”
President Obama's visit to Chile is aimed at spotlighting that country as a model for economic reform and political stability.
奥巴马总统访问智利，目的是强调智利是经济改革和政治稳定的典范。
After a meeting with President Sebastian Pinera, Chile's first conservative leader since the end of the Pinochet era in 1990, Mr. Obama will deliver what the White House calls a broad policy speech about the U.S. relationship with Latin America.
奥巴马同智利总统皮涅拉会谈之后，将就美国与拉美国家的关系发表政策演说。皮涅拉是皮诺切特政权1990年垮台之后担任总统的首位保守派领导人。
Deputy Chief of Mission at Chile's embassy in Washington, Roberto Matus, says it will be an opportunity to lay out a clear American vision for an equal partnership.
智利驻美使馆公使马图斯(Roberto Matus)说，奥巴马在演说中将有机会明确阐述美国寻求平等的伙伴关系。
“We should recognize the differences of the countries, respect the specificities of development and models of development of each country, and from there try to build a forward-looking vision, a partnership on how Latin America is a global player and how Latin America should be present in this area," he said.
他说：“我们应该承认国家之间的分歧，尊重各自国家的发展特点与模式，并以此为基础试图建立一种前瞻性的伙伴关系，明确拉美怎样才能发挥国际作用，为何应该发挥国际作用。”
In El Salvador, Mr. Obama will meet with President Mauricio Funes, who heads a center-left government, and is seen as a strong partner, especially in regional counter-narcotics efforts. They will also discuss immigration issues.
奥巴马访问萨尔瓦多时将与总统富内斯会晤。富内斯政府的立场中间偏左，被视为是强硬的伙伴，在地区缉毒方面尤其如此。两人还将讨论移民问题。
El Salvador's ambassador to the United States, Francisco Altschul, says the Obama visit recognizes the positive steps Salvadorans are taking politically.“In a difficult situation, how you can maintain rule of democracy, the rule of law, while trying to achieve major changes like reduction of poverty, and so forth,”he said.
萨尔瓦多驻美国大使阿特休尔(Francisco Altschul)说，奥巴马访问是承认萨尔瓦多在政治方面采取的积极步骤。他说：“时局是艰难的，你要维持民主法治，又要试图促使扶贫等领域发生巨大的变化。”
President Obama's trip comes as critics assert the U.S. is losing out on opportunities for economic influence to China, which has emerged as the lead trading partner for Brazil, and in this hemisphere, to Canada.
奥巴马访问前夕，有批评人士说，美国正在丧失对拉美地区的经济影响力，并被中国取代。中国已经变成巴西和加拿大的主要贸易伙伴。
Council of the Americas Vice President Eric Farnsworth says Latin America has other opportunities, and the United States needs to be fully engaged in a region that is now an engine of global economic recovery.
美洲理事会副总裁法恩斯沃思(Eric Farnsworth)说，拉美国家有别的机会可以选择，美国需要在当地进行全面接触，这里已经成为全球经济复苏的引擎。
“With other nations knocking loudly on the door in Latin America, the president must show the hemisphere that the United States remains its best, most logical, and appropriate partner because of the values we claim and the agenda we share. If he can do that, in my view, the trip will prove to be a resounding success," he said.
他说：“其他国家积极开拓拉美市场时，奥巴马必须表明，美国依然是拉美的最佳、最合理和最适当的合作伙伴，因为我们拥有共同的价值观念。我认为，如果奥巴马能做到这点，此行就能大获全胜。”
Louis Goodman, of The American University School of International Service. “Countries don't look to the United States the way they used to. They still look to the United States of course. And I think it is President Obama's intention to try to create a new look and a new relationship that is very positive and very consistent with what is happening in the 21st century,”he said.
美利坚大学国际服务系主任古德曼说：“当地国家不再象以往那样看待美国，但依然需要美国的支持。我认为，奥巴马总统有意试图开创新局面，打造非常积极、非常符合21世纪情况的新型关系。”
Back home, President Obama faces intensified pressure from the U.S. Congress to finalize free-trade agreements with Panama AND with Colombia, which were left off his Latin America itinerary.
奥巴马总统在美国国内正在面临美国国会的巨大压力，要美国与巴拿马和哥伦比亚建立自由贸易协定。奥巴马本次没有计划访问这两个国家。
There is also continuing criticism of administration policy on Cuba, where a U.S. contractor was recently sentenced to 15 years in jail, and concern about Honduras, and the domestic and regional policies of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
奥巴马政府对待古巴的政策也继续受到批评。古巴最近判处一名美国承包商15年监禁。此外，也有人对洪都拉斯以及委内瑞拉总统查韦斯的国内和地区政策感到担忧。 |