LATAM POLITICS TODAY-Paraguay looks ahead to Pena government

The Mexican leader earlier Monday said he would meet with a representative for U.S. President Joe Biden to discuss migration, without saying who. The meeting comes ahead of the scheduled end of the United States' Title 42 border policy on May 11.

The latest in Latin American politics on Monday: Paraguayans see Pena as 'ideal' president to boost economy

ASUNCION - Paraguayans were mixed about the prospects of another five years of conservative Colorado party rule after Santiago Pena, a 44-year-old economist, secured a 15-point lead over his opposition rival with 42.7% of Sunday's vote. Still, many voters hoped the president-elect could reboot the country's farm-driven economy.

Pena will have expanded majorities in both houses of congress to work with, but will also face divisions within his party when he takes office on Aug. 15. "We have a lot to do, after the last years of economic stagnation, of fiscal deficit, the task that awaits us is not for a single person or for a party," Pena said on Sunday, calling for "unity and consensus."

Bolsonaro steals show at Brazil's biggest farm fair RIBERAO PRETO, Brazil - Former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro stole the show at Brazil's largest agribusiness fair where he was acclaimed by supporters from the country's strong farm sector.

It was Bolsonaro's first encounter with supporters since he returned from the United States one month ago, and he was mobbed by an excited crowd that applauded him wildly when he climbed on top of a combine harvester. Organizers of the annual Agrishow withdrew an invitation for the current agriculture minister in leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government, which complained they had turned the fair into a campaign event.

Venezuela's Maduro hikes bonuses, minimum wage untouched CARACAS - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday announced an increase worth $60 to two workers bonuses at an event marking Labor Day, but left the minimum wage unchanged despite calls to increase it amid annual inflation that reached 501% last month.

Maduro said a bonus for food would rise from $15 to $40 and another known as the "war bonus" would rise from $15 to $20. Venezuela's monthly minimum wage, last revised in March 2022, sits at 130 bolivars, or about $5.20.

The delay in raising the minimum wage is part of a strategy of public spending cuts to control inflation. Mexican President Lopez Obrador to meet with Biden adviser

MEXICO CITY - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's office confirmed he will meet with White House Homeland Security adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall on Tuesday morning in Mexico. The Mexican leader earlier Monday said he would meet with a representative for U.S. President Joe Biden to discuss migration, without saying who.

The meeting comes ahead of the scheduled end of the United States' Title 42 border policy on May 11. The COVID health policy has allowed the U.S. to rapidly return migrants from the southern border back to Mexico. (Compiled by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)