WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- A day before embarking on a trip to Latin America , President Obama described his planned talks with Latin American leaders as discussions among equals . President Obama refuses to criticize Latin American leaders . `` Times have changed , '' Obama told CNN en Español Wednesday . Referring to his planned meeting later this week with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva , he said , `` My relationship with President Lula is one of two leaders who both have big countries , that we are trying to solve problems and create opportunities for our people and we should be partners . `` There 's no senior partner or junior partner . '' Obama and Lula da Silva are among leaders scheduled to attend the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago . Obama refused to criticize the leaders of Venezuela , Bolivia and Ecuador , who have taken measures to change their constitutions to extend their holds on power . `` I think it 's important for the United States not to tell other countries how to structure their democratic practices and what should be contained in their constitutions , '' he said . `` It 's up to the people of those countries to make a decision about how they want to structure their affairs . '' Asked how he plans to interact with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez , a fierce critic of the United States who once described former President George Bush as the devil , Obama offered no criticism . `` Look , he 's the leader of his country and he 'll be one of many people that I will have an opportunity to meet . '' Though he said he believes the United States has a leadership role to play in the region , Obama qualified that role , saying , `` We also recognize that other countries have important contributions and insights . We want to listen and learn as well as talk , and that approach , I think , of mutual respect and finding common interests , is one that ultimately will serve everybody . '' Asked about Cuba , Obama , who recently eased restrictions on travel and sending money to the island , offered a prod and a carrot to Havana . `` What we 're looking for is some signal that there are going to be changes in how Cuba operates that assures that political prisoners are released , that people can speak their minds freely , that they can travel , that they can write and attend church and do the things that people throughout the hemisphere can do and take for granted , '' he said . `` And if there is some sense of movement on those fronts in Cuba , then I think we can see a further thawing of relations and further changes . '' Obama sought to distance his administration from that of his predecessor , noting that he plans to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , where `` some of the practices of enhanced interrogation techniques , I think ran counter to American values and American traditions . '' He said his team has spoken with the Spanish government about a Spanish judge 's call for an investigation into the role of Bush administration officials in the detention of five Spaniards at Guantanamo . But he did not dwell on his predecessor 's legacy . `` I 'm a strong believer that it is important to look forward and not backward and to remind ourselves that we do have very real security threats out there . '' Though the U.S. image abroad may have suffered in recent years , `` there 's a reason why there are consistently so many immigrants to our country from Latin America , '' he said . Obama lauded Mexican President Felipe Calderon , with whom he is to meet Thursday in Mexico City , as having done `` an outstanding and heroic job in dealing with what is a big problem right now along the borders with the drug cartels . '' He vowed that the United States can be counted on to help . `` We are going to be dealing not only with drug interdiction coming north , but also working on helping to curb the flow of cash and guns going south , '' Obama said . Obama described himself as `` a strong proponent of comprehensive immigration reform , '' and said he has met with the congressional Hispanic Caucus `` to try to shape an agenda that can move through Congress . ''
Obama heading to Summit of Americas this week in Trinidad and Tobago . He says U.S. should not tell `` countries how to structure their democratic practices '' `` We want to listen and learn as well as talk , '' Obama says .