LATAM POLITICS TODAY-Chile's ex-finance chief to helm IMF's Western Hemisphere Dept

He added that there is no defined amount for the fund, and that the U.S. Congress is working on related projects. Mexico's AMLO rebukes U.S. government over protest comments MEXICO CITY - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador criticized comments by U.S. State Department officials about recent protests in Mexico, accusing the department of meddling in his country's affairs. Tens of thousands of Mexicans took to the streets on Sunday to protest against measures pushed through this month by Lopez Obrador to shrink the country's independent electoral authority, after the opposition attacked his move as a threat to democracy.

The latest in Latin American politics today: IMF taps former Chile finmin to head its Americas' office

WASHINGTON - Chile's former Finance Minister Rodrigo Valdes will become head of the International Monetary Fund's Western Hemisphere Department (WHD) starting in May, the fund's head Kristalina Georgieva announced. Valdes was deputy director in the WHD and European Departments from 2009 to 2012, "where he is remembered as a caring manager and for his intellectual heft as he helped countries navigate the aftermath of the global financial crisis," according to Georgieva.

Valdes will succeed Brazil's Ilan Goldfajn, who took over on Jan. 2022 and in November was elected to take the helm of the Inter-American Development Bank, also based in Washington. Brazil's environment chief meets with U.S. climate envoy

BRASILIA - Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva met with U.S. President Joe Biden's top climate adviser, John Kerry, to discuss the protection of the Amazon rainforest as well as donations to the forest's fund. Speaking to reporters, Kerry said that the U.S. is committed to the Amazon fund and other alternatives to help protect the Amazon. He added that there is no defined amount for the fund, and that the U.S. Congress is working on related projects.

Mexico's AMLO rebukes U.S. government over protest comments MEXICO CITY - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador criticized comments by U.S. State Department officials about recent protests in Mexico, accusing the department of meddling in his country's affairs.

Tens of thousands of Mexicans took to the streets on Sunday to protest against measures pushed through this month by Lopez Obrador to shrink the country's independent electoral authority, after the opposition attacked his move as a threat to democracy. State Department officials hailed what they described as the political debate around the electoral overhaul, prompting a terse response from Lopez Obrador, who said the department "always meddles in things that are not its business."

In recent days, Lopez Obrador has been accused of doing much the same thing with his escalating criticism of Peru's caretaker President Dina Boluarte. Argentine farmers protest tax, currency policies

BUENOS AIRES - Argentine Farmers in Argentina staged a protest in Santa Fe province to demand lower taxes and a better exchange rate for their exports, amid a prolonged economic slump and historic drought that has battered crops and agricultural output. Farmers are asking President Alberto Fernandez's government for less burdensome interventionist trade policies and the elimination of export taxes, as they suffer from the worst drought in 60 years.

"We've been warning that the situation for farmers is difficult with drought, with frost," said Carlos Achetoni, president of farm federation FAA, in a video announcing the demonstration posted on Twitter. (Compiled by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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