President Obama hopes to recruit Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to help pressure the Cuban Castro regime to undertake reform efforts during talks this week at the White House, a senior administration official said Monday.

Obama and Nieto will meet Tuesday in the president's first face-to-face gathering with a Latin American leader since announcing last month his plans to normalize diplomatic relations with Havana in more than a half-century.

"The leaders will discuss our new approach to Cuba, which will create opportunities or us to work together with key partners like Mexico to encourage positive change in Cuba and reinforce democratic principles," a senior administration official said.

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The official said past U.S. policy toward the island "was a source of friction with other countries," and that the changes would "make iteasier" to partner with other countries to encourage democratic reforms.

Obama announced in December plans to reestablish a U.S. embassy on the island, as well as ease some trade and travel restrictions currently in place. The president will be unable to fully repeal the embargo imposed during the 1960s without congressional action, but the efforts are expected to substantially ease access to the communist nation.

Peña Nieto's administration has looked to forge close ties with Havana, and the Mexican leader traveled to Cuba to meet with both former leader Fidel Castro and his brother and current president Raúl Castro. The Mexican government also waived some 70 percent of a $487 million debt to its trade development bank as an overture to the Castro regime.

The White House says it hopes now