LATAM POLITICS TODAY-Brazil mulls welfare boost ahead of election

The latest in Latin American politics today: Brazil's government mulls increase in welfare program

BRASILIA - Brazil will potentially increase its main welfare program to 600 reais ($115) a month, the government's leader in the Senate said, in addition to boosting gas vouchers and creating fuel aid for truckers. It forms part of President Jair Bolsonaro's strategy to boost social spending ahead of elections in October. The latest opinion poll showed Bolsonaro with 28% of voters' support compared with 47% for former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Chile's Codelco and workers reach agreement to end strike SANTIAGO - Union leaders at Chile's state-owned mining firm Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, reached an agreement with the company this afternoon to end a strike over the closure of a smelter located in a highly polluted area.

"We're with the workers; we plan on meeting their demands," said Andre Sougarret, Codelco's interim chief executive, saying that retraining, relocation and exit packages were on the table for workers currently employed at the smelter. The agreement prevents a potentially costly economic fallout for President Gabriel Boric's five-month-old government, which has struggled with low approval ratings.

Ecuador's president tests positive for COVID QUITO - President Guillermo Lasso has COVID-19, officials announced, adding he has no symptoms and is fully vaccinated.

The diagnosis comes as the country enters its 11th day of indigenous-led protests, with its leaders and the government unable to reach an agreement. The state oil company announced its recent output has nearly halved as a result. Brazil's Lula signals pro-green policies ahead of election

BRASILIA - Leftist presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said that Brazil needs to protect the Amazon forest and the people who live in the region, separating himself from far-right incumbent Bolsonaro's "resource nationalism". "We have to take care of the forest and the Amazonian people, to provide jobs, wages, quality of life. We need to take care of the indigenous people," Lula said in an interview with local radio.

Bolsonaro calls for U.N. reform SAO PAULO - Bolsonaro said on Thursday that the BRICS group of emerging economies must unite to reform the United Nations, particularly the Security Council, saying that emerging economies need to be properly represented on the 15-member body. (Compiled by Steven Grattan, Isabel Woodford and Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Alistair Bell and Richard Pullin)

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