Obama Heads to South America to Head Off China

In his first two years in office, President Barack Obama traveled extensively across Europe and Asia and even made two stops in Africa. On Mar. 18 he'll finally head for South America. The region's economic growth and vast resources have rivals such as China, India, and Russia "knocking on the door," says Eric Farnsworth, vice-president of the business-backed Council of the Americas in Washington. "We can no longer assume that we are the only game in town."

Latin America's economies grew about six percent last year, and Obama wants to strengthen ties to help reach his goal of doubling U.S. exports by 2015. "There's been tremendous progress in this region economically over the course of the last decade or so," says Mike Froman, Obama's deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs. "So this trip fundamentally is about the U.S. recovery, U.S. exports."