San Salvador, El Salvador ? President Bush on Sunday held out the promise of expanded trade to Central American nations, saying countries once racked by civil war now deserve jobs as a reward for the way they have “changed old ways and have found new wealth and new freedom.”

Bush paid a six-hour visit here his first ever, he said to discuss the possibilities of a Central American trade pact with Salvadoran President Francisco Flores and other leaders from the region. The sessions closed out a four-day tour of Latin America in which Bush pushed open markets, anti-terrorism efforts and more foreign aid money for developing nations that flush out corruption.

A boy and girl dressed in traditional Salvadoran costumes present first lady Laura Bush, left, with flowers as she and President Bush arrive in San Salvador, El Salvador. Salvadoran President Francisco Flores looks on at right. The Bushes on Sunday wrapped up their tour of Central America and returned to Washington.

Bush also pledged Sunday to pursue a trade agreement for all the Americas, and promote immigration policies that would establish temporary protective status for some immigrants whose visas have expired.

During lunch with the leaders of El Salvador, Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama, Bush said he wants to get Congress energized behind the regional trade proposal he submitted in January, even though the matter, for now, is “at the working level,” said White House spokesman Sean McCormack.

Secretary of State Colin Powell acknowledged Sunday that no Central American trade deal was likely soon.

The administration has a number of trade agreements lined up and is trying to craft them into one trade policy before getting into trade talks, he said.

“He’ll want to hear from the leaders … and then we’ll take those messages back, as we structure our overall trade policy,” Powell said.

Bush noted that millions of Salvadorans living in the United States were propping up El Salvador’s economy by sending nearly $2 billion a year back to their families. He suggested that more trade would give these workers the option of finding employment in their native land that pays enough to sustain a high quality of life.

“Trade means jobs,” Bush said. “Trade means people who want to work are more likely to find jobs in both countries.”

Flores agreed. “The only way to come out of poverty is through work,” he said. Just the fact that Bush expressed a desire for a trade pact “will cause investors to approach our countries to be in the region when the treaty takes effect,” he said.

Even as they spoke, the newspaper La Prensa Grafica reported polls Sunday that showed more than half of Salvadorans would like to move to the United States.