LATAM POLITICS TODAY-Russia's Lavrov thanks Brazil for efforts to resolve Ukraine war

The Russian foreign minister will meet later on Monday with Lula, who has proposed forming a group of nations not involved in the Russia-Ukraine war to broker peace. Cuban President Diaz-Canel expected to win second term despite crises HAVANA - Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel is widely expected to be chosen this week by assembly lawmakers to lead the country for another five years, despite a rocky first term marked by the coronavirus pandemic and a near-unprecedented economic crisis. Diaz-Canel, 62, heads the Communist Party, to which all 470-members of the legislature elected by Cubans last month either belong or are sympathetic to.

The latest in Latin American politics today:

Russia's Lavrov thanks Brazil for efforts to resolve Ukraine war BRASILIA - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday thanked Brazil for its efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine ahead of a visit with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose comments on the war have unnerved the U.S.

Lavrov and Brazilian Foreign Relations Minister Mauro Vieira addressed journalists after a meeting in Brasilia, discussing plans to boost meat exports to Russia and secure fertilizer imports for Brazilian farmers. The Russian foreign minister will meet later on Monday with Lula, who has proposed forming a group of nations not involved in the Russia-Ukraine war to broker peace.

Cuban President Diaz-Canel expected to win second term despite crises HAVANA - Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel is widely expected to be chosen this week by assembly lawmakers to lead the country for another five years, despite a rocky first term marked by the coronavirus pandemic and a near-unprecedented economic crisis.

Diaz-Canel, 62, heads the Communist Party, to which all 470-members of the legislature elected by Cubans last month either belong or are sympathetic to. Cuba says its one-party system promotes unity and limits financial interference in the assembly elections. Mexico arrests state migration head for alleged role in deadly migrant fire

MEXICO CITY - Mexican authorities have arrested the head of migration for the state of Chihuahua in connection with a fire last month at a migrant detention center which killed 40 people, according to the federal arrest database. Salvador Gonzalez is the highest-ranking official to have been detained in relation to the incident so far. He was arrested on Sunday in Ciudad Juarez, the northern border town where the detention center is located.

Mexico feels the strain as Haitian migrants, caught in limbo, mark time Asylum claims by Haitians in Mexico are on track to hit a record above 50,000 this year, a top official said, further pressuring the country's already strained migrant services as many begin to contemplate a future there rather than in the United States.

In the year's first three months, 13,631 applied for refugee status, dwarfing claims from other countries and comparing with 17,153 in all of 2022, according to data from the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR). (Compiled by Steven Grattan; Editing by Paul Simao)

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