# 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

| President | Dates | Countries | Locations | Key details |
| Herbert Hoover | December 1, 1928 | Ecuador | Guayaquil | Met with President Isidro Ayora. |
| Herbert Hoover | December 5, 1928 | Peru | Lima | Met with President Augusto B. Leguía. |
| Herbert Hoover | December 8–11, 1928 | Chile | Antofagasta, Santiago | Met with President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo. Met with Bolivian diplomats to discuss the ongoing Tacna–Arica dispute. |
| Herbert Hoover | December 13–15, 1928 | Argentina | Buenos Aires | Met with President Hipólito Yrigoyen. Also reported to (U.S.) President Calvin Coolidge on the success of his tour via telegraph. |
| Herbert Hoover | December 16–18, 1928 | Uruguay | Montevideo | Met with President Juan Campisteguy, and addressed the National Council of Administration. |
| Herbert Hoover | December 21–23, 1928 | Brazil | Rio de Janeiro | Met with President Washington Luís; addressed the National Congress and the Supreme Federal Court. |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | July 10, 1934 | Colombia | Cartagena | Informal visit en route to vacation in Hawaii. |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | November 27, 1936 | Brazil | Rio de Janeiro | Addressed the National Congress of Brazil. |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | November 30 – December 2, 1936 | Argentina | Buenos Aires | Attended session of Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Peace. |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | December 3, 1936 | Uruguay | Montevideo | Official visit. Met with President Gabriel Terra. |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | January 12, 1943 | Brazil | Belém | Overnight stop en route to Casablanca. |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | January 28, 1943 | Brazil | Natal | Informal visit (following Casablanca Conference); met with President Getúlio Vargas. |
| Harry S. Truman | September 1–7, 1947 | Brazil | Rio de Janeiro | State visit; addressed Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Continental Peace and Security and the Brazilian Congress. |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower | February 23–26, 1960 | Brazil | Brasília Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo | Met with President Juscelino Kubitschek and addressed Brazilian Congress. |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower | February 26–29, 1960 | Argentina | Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata, San Carlos de Bariloche | Met with President Arturo Frondizi. |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower | February 29 – March 2, 1960 | Chile | Santiago | Met with President Jorge Alessandri. |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower | March 2–3, 1960 | Uruguay | Montevideo | Met with President Benito Nardone. |
| John F. Kennedy | December 16–17, 1961 | Venezuela | Caracas | Met with President Rómulo Betancourt. |
| John F. Kennedy | December 17, 1961 | Colombia | Bogota | Met with President Alberto Lleras Camargo. |
| Lyndon B. Johnson | April 11–14, 1967 | Uruguay | Punta del Este | Summit Meeting with Latin American Heads of State. |
| Lyndon B. Johnson | April 14, 1967 | Suriname | Paramaribo | Refuelling stop en route from Uruguay. |
| Jimmy Carter | March 28–29, 1978 | Venezuela | Caracas | Met with President Carlos Andrés Pérez. Addressed Congress and signed maritime boundary agreement. |
| Jimmy Carter | March 29–31, 1978 | Brazil | Brasília, Rio de Janeiro | Official visit; met with President Ernesto Geisel and addressed Brazilian Congress. |
| Ronald Reagan | November 30 – December 3, 1982 | Brazil | Brasilia, São Paulo | Official working visit; met with President João Figueiredo. |
| Ronald Reagan | December 3, 1982 | Colombia | Bogota | Official Working Visit. Met with President Belisario Betancur. |
| George H. W. Bush | February 15, 1990 | Colombia | Cartagena | Attended Summit Meeting on the control of illicit drug trafficking with President Virgilio Barco Vargas, Bolivian President Jaime Paz Zamora and Peruvian President Alan García. |
| George H. W. Bush | December 3–4, 1990 | Brazil | Brasilia | Met with President Fernando Collor de Mello and addressed a Joint Session of the Brazilian Congress. |
| George H. W. Bush | December 4–5, 1990 | Uruguay | Montevideo | Met with President Luis Alberto Lacalle. Addressed a Joint Session of the Uruguayan Congress. |
| George H. W. Bush | December 5–6, 1990 | Argentina | Buenos Aires | Met with President Carlos Menem and addressed a Joint Session of the Argentine National Congress. |
| George H. W. Bush | December 6–7, 1990 | Chile | Santiago | Met with President Patricio Aylwin and addressed a Joint Session of the Chilean National Congress. |
| George H. W. Bush | December 7–8, 1990 | Venezuela | Caracas | Met with President Carlos Andrés Pérez. |
| George H. W. Bush | June 12–13, 1992 | Brazil | Rio de Janeiro | Attended the Earth Summit meeting. |
| Bill Clinton | October 12–13, 1997 | Venezuela | Caracas | Met with President Rafael Caldera. |
| Bill Clinton | October 13–15, 1997 | Brazil | Brasilia, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro | Met with President Fernando Henrique Cardoso; delivered several public addresses |
| Bill Clinton | October 15–18, 1997 | Argentina | Buenos Aires, Bariloche | Met with President Menem; delivered several public addresses. |
| Bill Clinton | April 16–19, 1998 | Chile | Santiago | State visit. Attended the 2nd Summit of the Americas. |
| Bill Clinton | August 30, 1998 | Colombia | Cartagena | Met with President Andrés Pastrana Arango. |
| George W. Bush | March 23–24, 2002 | Peru | Lima | Met with the Presidents of Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia, and with the Vice President of Ecuador. |
| George W. Bush | November 19–22, 2004 | Chile | Santiago | Attended 16th APEC Summit. |
| George W. Bush | November 22, 2004 | Colombia | Cartagena | Met with President Álvaro Uribe. |
| George W. Bush | November 3–5, 2005 | Argentina | Mar del Plata | Attended 4th Summit of the Americas. |
| George W. Bush | November 5–6, 2005 | Brazil | Brasilia | Met with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. |
| George W. Bush | March 8–9, 2007 | Brazil | São Paulo | Met with President Lula da Silva. |
| George W. Bush | March 9–11, 2007 | Uruguay | Montevideo | Met with President Tabaré Vázquez. |
| George W. Bush | March 11, 2007 | Colombia | Bogota | Met with President Álvaro Uribe. |
| George W. Bush | November 21–23, 2008 | Peru | Lima | Attended the APEC Summit Meeting. |
| Barack Obama | March 19–21, 2011 | Brazil | Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro | Met with President Dilma Rousseff. |
| Barack Obama | March 21–22, 2011 | Chile | Santiago | Met with President Sebastián Piñera. |
| Barack Obama | April 13–15, 2012 | Colombia | Cartagena | Attended 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. |
| Barack Obama | March 23–24, 2016 | Argentina | Buenos Aires, Bariloche | Official visit. Met with President Mauricio Macri. Laid a wreath at the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral. |
| Barack Obama | November 18–20, 2016 | Peru | Lima | Attended the APEC Summit Meeting. |
| Donald Trump | November 29 – December 1, 2018 | Argentina | Buenos Aires | Attended the G20 summit. |
| Joe Biden | November 14–17, 2024 | Peru | Lima | Attended the APEC Summit Meeting. |
| Joe Biden | November 17–19, 2024 | Brazil | Rio de Janeiro, Manaus | Attended 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.