LATAM POLITICS TODAY-Honduras to extend state of emergency, bring in military

The latest in Latin American politics today:

Honduras to extend state of emergency, bring in military TEGUCIGALPA - Honduras will again extend a suspension of constitutional guarantees and involve the military in a renewed drive to fight criminal groups operating extortions, drug trafficking and contract killings, presidential spokesperson Ivis Alvarado said.

Leftist President Xiomara Castro introduced the so-called state of exception on Dec. 6, and since extended it twice across 123 municipalities including the Central American country's two main cities, Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, hardest hit by violent crime. The battle plan is set to last six months, but the state of emergency will need to be renewed again by April 20. It will incorporate the army, navy and air force, which until now were limited to border areas, bolstering Honduras' military police.

Brazil's Lula reschedules China trip, to meet Xi April 14 BRASILIA - Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on April 14 in Beijing, his office said, rescheduling a visit that was postponed last week after Lula was diagnosed with a mild pneumonia.

Lula will leave for China on April 11 and intends to stick to the original agenda, including the signing of some 20 agreements with Brazil's largest trading partner. Mexican migration officer absent when fire began, guard says

CIUDAD JUAREZ - The migration officer supervising the men's unit of a Mexican migrant detention center where a fire claimed 39 lives had left the building shortly before the incident, a private security guard said in an interview with Reuters. Mexican officials on Thursday arrested five people suspected of involvement in the fire, after obtaining arrest orders for three INM (National Migration Institute) officers, two private security officers and the person accused of starting the fire.

U.S. firm agrees to worker rights plan at Mexican factory WASHINGTON/MEXICO CITY - The United States and Mexico announced an agreement to address a U.S. labor trade complaint at the VU Manufacturing auto parts plant in Mexico that requires the firm to allow free association rights for its workers.

The U.S. Department of Labor said in a statement the agreement includes a commitment by VU Manufacturing to respect workers' choice of union representation, a key tenet of the 2020 United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade pact. As part of the agreement, Mexico's government will initiate sanctions proceedings, an action praised by U.S. officials.

Mexico picks first woman to head electoral body amid political row MEXICO CITY - Mexican lawmakers on Friday for the first time chose a woman to head the National Electoral Institute (INE), as the electoral authority faces a bruising struggle with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Guadalupe Taddei, 59, will take over from Lorenzo Cordova amid intense political scrutiny of the body, including attempts by the president to slim down the INE's budget and offices. (Compiled by Gustavo Palencia, Steven Grattan and Sarah Morland; Editing by Paul Simao and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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