With a new administration taking the reins, pundits, politicians, and the press offer up ideas for how Barack Obama should handle policy toward Latin America. Top issues include drug violence in Mexico, Cuba relations, and pending trade deals.

In his first meeting with a foreign head of state since the U.S. election, Barack Obama talked with Mexico's Felipe Calderón Monday about how they can tighten bilateral relations to boost each country's economy and address security concerns.

International trade expert James Bacchus discusses AS/COA’s new Trade Advisory Group report and the need for the Obama administration “to come forward with some evidence that the United States is willing to work on a hemispheric basis.”

Five decades after the overthrow of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, U.S.-Cuban relations remain on ice. In an op-ed, AS/COA's Christopher Sabatini writes that political prisoners and divided families stand as victims in the two countries' ongoing standoff. (en español)

In a Miami Herald op-ed, COA's Eric Farnsworth examines the U.S.-Panamanian relationship since 1989. "[T]he United States and Panama have gone from hostility and military action to development spurred by globalization and trade," he writes.

Over the past year, Congress made headway in working with Latin America on trade, security, and energy. Looking ahead, 2009 holds great potential for advancing key hemispheric issues.

Between the financial downturn and stepped up law enforcement, immigrants struggle with fewer employment options in the United States. Yet migrants who plan to move home face other economic woes.