US seeks new relationship with Latin America

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama will try to establish a cooperative new relationship with Latin America this week, but US resistance to change on highly symbolic issues like Cuba and immigration could undercut the effort, analysts said.

Obama travels to Mexico on Thursday for his first visit to the region as president and heads to Trinidad and Tobago on Friday for the Fifth Summit of the Americas. As he did at the G20 summit of major economic powers in London this month, the president plans to emphasize listening to regional leaders and working on shared goals.

"With all that is at stake today, we cannot afford to talk past one another," Obama said on Saturday in his weekly radio speech. "We have to find, and build on, our mutual interests."