-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Like the neighbors of a new kid who just moved into the big fancy house down the block , many Latin American leaders are curious about President Obama . Latin America expert Otto Reich says the summit is an `` opportunity , but also a risk for U.S. policy . '' The heads of 34 nations will get a chance to see him up close next month at the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago . What he says will be closely watched . `` The spotlight will be entirely on Barack Obama , '' said Peter Hakim , president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue . Hakim will be one of three people who will on Wednesday address the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the summit . Otto Reich , who served Presidents Reagan and both Bushes in a number of high-level Latin American posts , also will speak . Thomas F. `` Mack '' McLarty , former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton , will be the third person . Reich has some advice for Obama : Be careful . `` The summit is an opportunity , but also a risk for U.S. policy , '' Reich said . `` Not all the neighbors there are good . Why do we recognize this reality when we lock our doors at night but do n't recognize it in our foreign policy ? '' Reich said the United States must differentiate between its friends , primarily Colombia and Mexico , which are under attack from drug traffickers and organized crime , and hostile countries , particularly Venezuela , Cuba , Bolivia , Ecuador and Nicaragua . Cuba , which was expelled from the Organization of American States , is not allowed to attend the summit . `` Obama ca n't look at this group of people and think he 's among a group of friends , '' Reich said . `` Let 's not look at this as a community of 34 countries . They are very different people . '' Hakim said Obama must ask Latin American leaders to share the burden . `` He should n't simply say what the United States is going to do , '' Hakim said . `` He should say what he expects Latin America to do . '' Hakim pointed out several areas Obama needs to address . First , he said , `` He must make clear he 's trying to fix the U.S. economy . '' He said Obama also will have to deal with the one nation that wo n't be there -- Cuba . The United States broke diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1961 and imposed an economic embargo in 1962 . President Bush increased some restrictions in the past eight years . Obama has signaled that he 's ready to start relaxing some of the prohibitions . `` This is the issue of greatest symbolic importance , '' Hakim said . `` It will be seen as a test of real U.S. readiness to change in the hemisphere . What he says about Cuba will make headlines . '' But Reich warns that the United States should extract some conditions from Cuba before making any allowances . `` There 's a way it can be done to advance the conditions of the people in Cuba , '' he said . `` I do n't approve of the unilateral way it 's being done . The embargo is a negotiating tool . We should not negotiate with ourselves , and that 's what we 're doing . '' Hakim also said Obama must address `` the pandemic of criminal violence '' destroying many parts of Latin America . U.S. aid is focused primarily on Mexico and Colombia . `` Is the United States going to go beyond Mexico and Colombia ? '' he asked . `` Is the United States ready to rethink it 's drug strategy , which has done so little ? '' A new approach to the drug war has received increased support and attention recently . The former presidents of Mexico , Colombia and Brazil called last month for the decriminalization of marijuana for personal use and a change in tactics on the war on drugs . Ex-presidents Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico , Cesar Gaviria of Colombia and Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil made their announcement at a meeting in Brazil of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy . `` The problem is that current policies are based on prejudices and fears and not on results , '' Gaviria said at a news conference in which the commission 's recommendations were presented . The 17-member panel worked on the report for a year . Gaviria said the time is right to start a debate on the subject , particularly with the pragmatic openings provided by Obama 's election . The Fifth Summit of the Americas will be held in Port of Spain April 17-19 . The periodic meetings bring together the 34 democratically elected heads of state and governments in the Western Hemisphere to discuss regional issues . The first summit was held in Miami , Florida , in December 1994 . The most recent took place in Mar del Plata , Argentina , in November 2005 .