LATAM POLITICS TODAY-Brazil's envoy to Venezuela meets with Maduro

"We are not going to permit any foreign government to intervene in our territory, much less that a government's armed forces intervene," Lopez Obrador said during a regular news conference. The kidnapping of four Americans - two of whom were killed - in a northern border state intensified calls from Republican lawmakers in Washington to take a tougher line on organized crime.

The latest in Latin American politics today:

Brazil's envoy to Venezuela meets with Maduro SAO PAULO - Brazil's envoy to Venezuela, Celso Amorim, and a Brazilian delegation visited Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday on a mission that had not been publicly reported by Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government.

Maduro posted on his Twitter account Wednesday night photos of Amorim, who is a former foreign minister, greeting him and meeting with him in a Venezuelan palace. Amorim is one of Lula's key advisors and the trip followed Lula's mission to the United States in mid-February, when he met with U.S. President Joe Biden.

Chile's Boric to make cabinet changes after lawmakers shelve tax reform After Congress blocked his tax reform on Wednesday, Chilean President Gabriel Boric is expected to make his second major cabinet reshuffle this Friday, according to local newspaper La Tercera.

One of the moves being considered would be to merge one of the current ministries, La Tercera said, citing sources close to the government. The ministerial reshuffle comes a day before Boric completes a year as president.

The tax reform aimed to ultimately collect up to 3.6% of gross domestic product and proposed a mining royalty, which is also being discussed separately. Mexico president rejects U.S. lawmakers' calls for military intervention against cartels

MEXICO CITY - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador rebuked calls from some U.S. lawmakers advocating military action in Mexico against drug cartels, describing the proposals as threats to Mexican sovereignty. "We are not going to permit any foreign government to intervene in our territory, much less that a government's armed forces intervene," Lopez Obrador said during a regular news conference.

The kidnapping of four Americans - two of whom were killed - in a northern border state intensified calls from Republican lawmakers in Washington to take a tougher line on organized crime. Canada's top general concerned military lacks capacity to lead Haiti mission

OTTAWA - Canada's top general said he was concerned that the country's armed forces, which are already stretched thin by support for Ukraine and NATO, do not have the capacity to lead a possible security mission to Haiti. Haiti's government and top United Nations officials have called for an international force to support Haitian police in their struggle against gangs, which have become the de facto authorities in parts of the country.

In January, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said it was critical to identify a country to take the lead and said Canada had expressed an interest in that role, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not committed to it. (Compiled by Steven Grattan; Editing by Richard Chang)

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