Obama hails ties with Latin America

Santiago: President Barack Obama on Monday called for a "new era of partnership" with Latin America as he acknowledged a sometimes troubled past between Washington and its neighbours in the region.

But his mission to reassert Washington's influence south of the border was punctuated by questions over the US role in fierce air assaults over Libya, and aides scrambled to keep him up to speed on the attacks in between talks with heads of state and policy speeches.

Following a weekend visit to Latin America's powerhouse Brazil, Obama laid out a vision for deeper trade, investment and political ties with an economically dynamic region where the United States faces growing competition from China.

"No region is more closely linked than the United States and Latin America," Obama told reporters after meeting Chilean President Sebastian Pinera in Santiago on Monday.

Still, there have been no major initatives and the visit has been overshadowed by air strikes against Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Obama is struggling to balance his handling of world crises, including US military intervention in a third Muslim country, with his domestic priorities of jobs and the economy, considered crucial to his 2012 re-election chances.

Obama hailed the transition in Chile and other Latin American countries to stable democracy from military dictatorship as a model for Arab states swept by popular rebellions against autocratic rule.

Two-way street

"There are no senior partners and there are no junior partners, there are equal partners" in the US-Latin American relationship, Obama said, adding that had to be a "two-way" street in terms of shouldering responsibilities.

He said relations had "at times been very rocky and at times been difficult," but it was important to learn from history and "not be trapped by it."

He offered no major policy changes and was short on specifics about how to advance the partnership beyond laying out themes of improved cooperation on trade, clean energy, security and anti-drug efforts.