The United States must deepen ties with regional allies and understand potential security risks present in Latin America when devising new policy strategies, write AS/COA's Christopher Sabatini and Ryan Berger for CNN's Global Public Square.

"The U.S. government is clearly trying to demonstrate a new, more fluid relationship with some elements of the [Cuban] regime," says AS/COA's Christopher Sabatini.

Senior hemispheric leaders discussed the importance of U.S.-Latin America cooperation and burgeoning regional trade with Asia at Council of the Americas’ 42nd annual Washington Conference on May 8.

During COA's 42nd Washington Conference, U.S. House of Representatives speaker John A. Boehner said he wants to see the whole Western Hemisphere as a "free enterprise zone [with] free markets, free trade, and free people."

View highlights from Council of the Americas' 42nd Annual Washington Conference on the Americas, held May 8, 2012.