LATAM POLITICS TODAY-Brazil's Bolsonaro authorizes transition to leftist Lula government

ICC prosecutor seeks to reopen Venezuela investigation International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Karim Khan said he formally asked the court to resume his investigation into alleged human rights violations committed by Venezuelan officials.

The latest in Latin American politics today:

Brazil's Bolsonaro does not concede to Lula, but authorizes transition BRASILIA/SAO PAULO - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro did not concede defeat in his first public remarks since losing Sunday's election, saying protests organized by his supporters were the fruit of "indignation and a sense of injustice" over the vote.

However, he stopped short of contesting the election result and authorized his chief of staff to begin the transition process with representatives of leftist President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. In a statement, Brazil's Supreme Court said Bolsonaro had indeed

recognized the election result by authorizing the start of a transition.

The head of Lula's party said Vice President-Elect Geraldo Alckmin

would coordinate the transition, which he aims to start Thursday. Venezuelan and Colombian presidents discuss trade, human rights

CARACAS - The presidents of Colombia and Venezuela held their first bilateral meeting

in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, where they discussed topics including trade, human rights and protecting the Amazon rainforest. The neighbors' fraught

relationship has improved since Colombian President Gustavo Petro - the Andean country's first leftist leader - took office in August on promises to fully restart trade with Venezuela.

"It has been a fruitful first meeting, truly auspicious, with good results," Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said in a joint statement. Ecuador's attorney general detains seven in corruption probe

QUITO - Ecuador's attorney general's office said it detained seven people

, including five former public servants, as part of an investigation into suspected corruption in state oil company Petroecuador. Prosecutors

carried out raids across several cities at the same time, with targets including Petroecuador's offices in capital Quito, after receiving information from authorities in the United States about a case involving a former company official.

Ecuador's former Energy Minister Xavier Vera resigned on Friday

amid a separate investigation into accusations he arranged jobs at Petroecuador in exchange for bribes. Vera denies any wrongdoing. ICC prosecutor seeks to reopen Venezuela investigation

International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Karim Khan said he formally asked the court to resume his investigation

into alleged human rights violations committed by Venezuelan officials. In April, Khan had rejected Venezuelan authorities' call for a delay and indicated he would seek to proceed with the probe, two years after a preliminary inquiry found evidence of crimes against humanity.

The decision to reopen the investigation now passes to ICC judges. (Compiled by Steven Grattan; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)