LATAM POLITICS TODAY-Boric says re-do required if Chileans reject constitution

In an interview with a local television channel, the leftist president said that since Chile's citizens voted to draft a new constitution in 2020, the process would have to be carried out again if voters reject the current proposal. "If the plan is rejected, what will happen is that we will have to prolong the process for another year and a half, where everything will have to be discussed from the beginning," said Boric, who had previously avoided speaking of alternatives if voters reject the proposed text in September.

The latest in Latin American politics today: Boric says Chile should draft new constitution if proposal fails

SANTIAGO - Chilean President Gabriel Boric said on Friday that if a proposed constitution is rejected in a referendum set for September, a new draft would have to be written from scratch instead of modifying the current text. In an interview with a local television channel, the leftist president said that since Chile's citizens voted to draft a new constitution in 2020, the process would have to be carried out again if voters reject the current proposal.

"If the plan is rejected, what will happen is that we will have to prolong the process for another year and a half, where everything will have to be discussed from the beginning," said Boric, who had previously avoided speaking of alternatives if voters reject the proposed text in September. Peru's Congress turns down OAS summit, citing bathroom rule

LIMA - The Peruvian government said the country runs the risk of being unable to host the Organization of American States (OAS) annual General Assembly this year because of a congressional decision opposing gender neutral bathrooms at the event. Peru's Congress, controlled by socially conservative parties, rejected on Thursday the government's request to host the Western Hemisphere regional body's assembly in October due to a requirement that it offer gender neutral bathrooms at the event.

The largest congressional bloc, Popular Force, led by former presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, voted unanimously to reject the OAS Assembly. Fujimori has previously criticized the OAS over an electoral controversy. U.S. ambassador to Mexico defends ties to president MEXICO CITY - U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar defended his relationship with Mexico and with the country's president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, following a profile in the New York Times which interviewed more than a dozen U.S. officials and analysts taking issue with the ambassador.

Salazar said he and Lopez Obrador had disagreed at times, including the president's criticisms of U.S. senators. "There are many other issues where I can tell the president he's wrong. And I have, and I will do that," Salazar said at an event in Washington.

Peru's Congress opens door to restoring bicameral legislature LIMA - A majority of Peruvian lawmakers on Friday voted to allow a referendum on restoring the country's traditional bicameral legislature after three decades operating with a unicameral Congress, falling short of the super majority needed to avoid a referendum.

Peruvians overwhelmingly rejected a bicameral legislature in a 2018 referendum that also established term limits for members of Congress. Some critics see the establishment of a new Senate as a way to give lawmakers a way around that reelection restriction. Details on U.S. work visa program coming soon -Mexico MEXICO CITY - Following a meeting in Washington between Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and U.S. President Joe Biden earlier this week, the Mexican president said in a regular news conference that more details regarding U.S. work visas for Mexicans and Central Americans would come next week.

Lopez Obrador said he will ask Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, who stayed in Washington to continue talks, to present details of the agreement next week, "maybe" on Tuesday. Colombia's new government aims to tax the rich, not companies Companies have nothing to fear from the administration of leftist President-elect Gustavo Petro, Colombia's incoming finance minister told the Financial Times.

The administration plans to target wealthy individuals, not companies, for tax hikes, and could cut corporate tax rates by up to 5%, Jose Antonio Ocampo, the incoming minister, said. "There are too many taxes on companies and not on individuals, and tackling the issue of personal income tax is essential if we want to make the system more progressive," he said. (Compiled by Kylie Madry; editing by Diane Craft and Leslie Adler)