Preparations for Obama visit move into high gear

obama

The agenda for the Barack Obama visit to Brazil on March 19 and 20, is getting filled (esta sendo rigidamente montada) in with more details by the day. 
It is reported that the Brazilian embassy in Washington has received requests for a thousand visas(milhares de solicitação de cobertura por jornalistas).
  American authorities are mainly concerned (autoridades americas estão preocupadas) with security for the president, his wife, Michelle, and two children, Natasha (known as Sasha) and Malia Ann, who will accompany him.

In Brasilia, Dilma Rousseff and Barack Obama will sign at least ten bilateral agreements (acordos bilaterais).
One of the agreements that is still being worked out deals (acordos) with economic and commercial cooperation and will reduce or eliminate sanitation barriers on fruit and meat (the US has a similar agreement with Uruguay). It seems that (Parece que)in the commercial area, it has not been possible to suspend surtaxes on certain goods (certos produtos( Goods = produtos pereciveis).

Other partnership agreements in the areas of energy, human rights, climate change and sustainable development  (mudança climatica e desemvolvimento sustentavel)are reportedly close to being concluded. The United States has expressed an interest in participating in Brazil’s ultra-deep pre-salt oil fields (campos profundos de exploração do pré-sal) and jointly expanding assistance to poor nations, such as Haiti.

In Rio, Obama will probably go to a slum neighborhood (Conjunto de Favelas  (Slum = favelas)that has been occupied and pacified by the police (known as a “UPP”). It is also expected that the president of the US will make a public speech in Rio (expectativa de um discurso publico no Rio).

The most recent signals (sinais recentes de conversas) from Brasilia and Washington are that both countries consider it a priority to move ahead (seguir adiante = estreitar os laços) on their mutual desire to reach agreements in the areas of renewable resources (recursos renovaveis) and clean energy. Brazil is concerned (O Brasil esta preocupado)with what it sees as unilateral measures (medidas unilaterais) by the US that weaken the dollar and distort global economic relations

The Americans are concerned with losing business in Brazil (a perda de negócios com o Brasil) to the Chinese who have recently become Brazil’s biggest trade partner. After Brazil, Obama will visit Chile and El Salvador.