LATAM POLITICS TODAY-Cubans approve gay marriage by large margin in referendum

The latest in Latin American politics today: Cubans approve gay marriage by large margin in referendum

HAVANA - Cubans approved gay marriage and adoption overwhelmingly in a Sunday referendum backed by the government that also boosted rights for women, the national election commission said. More than 3.9 million voters voted to ratify the code (66.9%), while 1.95 million opposed ratification (33%), Alina Balseiro Gutierrez, president of the commission, said on state-run television.

"Justice has been done," Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel wrote in a tweet. The 100-page "family code" legalizes same-sex marriage and civil unions, allows same-sex couples to adopt children, and promotes equal sharing of domestic rights and responsibilities between men and women.

Colombia, Venezuela set to reopen cargo trade at two major crossings SAN ANTONIO DE TACHIRA, Venezuela/ CUCUTA, Colombia - Colombia and Venezuela are set to reopen cargo transport at two major border crossings, potentially enabling billions of dollars in trade after years of icy bilateral relations and heavily-restricted economic ties.

The re-opening - which will see goods like coal, toilet paper and fruit moved through crossings between the Colombian city of Cucuta and the Venezuelan state of Tachira - was a key campaign promise of Colombia's new leftist President Gustavo Petro. Petro is set to mark the re-opening in Cucuta. It was unclear if Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro would attend.

Tropical Storm Ian to pound Cuba as it becomes a major hurricane HAVANA - Tropical Storm Ian hurtled toward western Cuba on Sunday, prompting the government to evacuate tourists amid expectations of life-threatening storm surges as it turns into a hurricane on Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Ian had begun to strengthen over the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea late on Sunday, as it moved slowly northwestward towards Cuba, with sustained winds of 60 miles per hour (96 km per hour), the NHC said. Cuba evacuated tourists on Sunday from the Isla de la Juventud, off the island's southwestern coast, as well as workers from nearby Cayo Largo, one of the country's top tourist destinations, according to official media reports. (Compiled by Steven Grattan; Editing by Alistair Bell)

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