Venezuela is not on Panetta’s itinerary, but analysts expect it to be an underlying factor in his meetings.

“The important thing is not to overplay it, to give more importance to it than it really deserves, but at the same time to take it seriously so that when we deal with other countries we might be able to encourage them to keep an eye on it, to cooperate with us in trying to have a better understanding of what is going on,” Johnson said.

The U.S. defense secretary goes to Colombia days after allegations that U.S. military personnel, along with Secret Service agents assigned to guard President Obama, solicited prostitutes they met at a strip club in Cartagena - the site of the summit.

Some in Colombia complain the affair distracted attention from the meeting.

The U.S. military’s top officer, General Martin Dempsey, called it an embarrassment.

“We let the boss down because nobody’s talking about what went on in Colombia other than this incident,” Dempsey said.

Panetta hopes to turn attention back to the issues of drug trafficking and anti-terror efforts.