LATAM POLITICS TODAY-Mexico's Senate approves controversial electoral reform bill

The latest in Latin American politics today: Mexico's Senate approves electoral reform bill MEXICO CITY - Mexican lawmakers approved a controversial overhaul of the body overseeing the country's elections, a move critics warn will weaken democracy ahead of a presidential vote next year. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador argues the reorganization will save $150 million a year and reduce the influence of economic interests in politics.

The latest in Latin American politics today:

Mexico's Senate approves electoral reform bill MEXICO CITY - Mexican lawmakers approved a controversial overhaul of the body overseeing the country's elections, a move critics warn will weaken democracy ahead of a presidential vote next year.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador argues the reorganization will save $150 million a year and reduce the influence of economic interests in politics. But opposition lawmakers and civil society groups have said they will challenge the changes at the Supreme Court, arguing they are unconstitutional. Protests are planned in multiple cities on Sunday.

The Senate approved the reform, which still needs to be signed into law by Lopez Obrador, 72 to 50. Ecuador prosecutor asks for corruption charges against former president

QUITO - Ecuador's attorney general said she will seek charges against former President Lenin Moreno and three dozen others for alleged corruption surrounding the construction of the country's largest hydroelectric plant between 2009 and 2018. The investigation into the case, which began in March 2019, now has the necessary documentation to ask the National Court of Justice to hold a hearing on bribery charges against Moreno and 36 other suspects, said Attorney General Diana Salazar.

Moreno denied the allegations in an afternoon statement and said the developments were a political distraction from the issues facing Ecuador. Buenos Aires opposition mayor Larreta set to join election race

BUENOS AIRES - Horacio Rodriguez Larreta, mayor of Argentine capital Buenos Aires, is set to announce his 2023 presidential election bid, a spokesman for the conservative opposition politician said, as a fragmented field of runners starts to emerge. Larreta, a 57-year-old economist who has led the city since 2015, will seek to represent the main Together for Change opposition coalition, where he faces likely internal competition from former Minister of Security Patricia Bullrich.

Argentina government loses Senate power after senators exit coalition BUENOS AIRES - Argentina's ruling Peronist coalition was dealt a blow when four of its senators announced their departure, weakening the government's sway in the Senate just eight months before high-stakes general elections.

Senators Edgardo Kueider, Guillermo Snopek, Carlos Espinola and Maria Eugenia Catalfamo said they would leave the center-left alliance that supports President Alberto Fernandez and form a new political bloc of their own. The exits leave Fernandez's coalition with 31 seats in the 72-seat Senate.

Mexico president takes aim at predecessor after U.S. court convicts drug czar MEXICO CITY - Mexican President Lopez Obrador said one of his predecessors, Felipe Calderon, should explain whether he knew a former top law enforcement official took bribes from the infamous Sinaloa Cartel.

On Tuesday, a U.S. court convicted a former security official, Genaro Garcia Luna, on charges that he took bribes in exchange for protection from arrest, safe passage for drug shipments and tipoffs about law enforcement operations. (Compiled by Brendan O'Boyle and Steven Grattan; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Bradley Perrett)

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