LATAM POLITICS TODAY-Ecuador's president shakes up top security posts

* Brazil's Lula condemns Ukraine invasion in Portugal * Argentine economy chief pledges help for ailing currency * Venezuela's Guaido in Miami after visit to Colombia (Adds news from Ecuador, Argentina) April 25 (Reuters) - The latest in Latin American politics today: Ecuador's Lasso puts ex-soldiers in top security posts QUITO - Two former soldiers will take top security posts in Ecuador, the government press office said, as embattled President Guillermo Lasso tries to combat rising crime.

* Brazil's Lula condemns Ukraine invasion in Portugal

* Argentine economy chief pledges help for ailing currency

* Venezuela's Guaido in Miami after visit to Colombia

(Adds news from Ecuador, Argentina) April 25 (Reuters) -

The latest in Latin American politics today: Ecuador's Lasso puts ex-soldiers in top security posts

QUITO - Two former soldiers will take top security posts in Ecuador, the government press office said, as embattled President Guillermo Lasso tries to combat rising crime. Retired General Wagner Bravo will be the new public security minister, while Paco Moncayo, an ex-soldier and former mayor of the capital Quito, will advise the government on security issues, the office said in a statement.

Lasso has struggled to control increased violence and crime on the streets and in prisons, which the government attributes to competition between gangs for control of drug trafficking and territory. Argentina's Massa pledges to battle peso black market slide

BUENOS AIRES - Argentina's Economy Minister Sergio Massa pledged to unleash "all tools" to counter a dangerous slide in the peso currency, which has plumbed near 500 pesos per dollar in popular black markets amid wider economic fears. The peso's slump has pressured President Alberto Fernandez's government to devalue the currency, something he has long resisted, and forced the central bank to increase intervention in the FX market that in March amounted to over $1 billion.

Fernandez's center-left Peronist coalition faces a steep uphill climb in elections later this year, in large part due to the South American country's deepening economic slump. Lula tells Portuguese lawmakers he condemns Ukraine invasion

LISBON - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and pressed for peace talks as he tries to make amends with Western countries that criticized him for remarks suggesting Kyiv shared the blame for the war. "Brazil understands the apprehension caused by the return of war to Europe and we condemn the violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity," Lula said in a speech to the Portuguese parliament.

On his first visit to Europe since taking office as president, the leftist leader encountered both praise and protest. Supporters erupted in jubilation when he arrived at parliament, while right-wing lawmakers thumped their desks during his speech and held signs saying: "Enough of corruption." Venezuela's Guaido arrives in Miami after Colombia visit

BOGOTA - Former Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido arrived in Miami, following a surprise visit to Colombia the previous day, where he said he would take part in an international summit. Guaido unexpectedly arrived in Colombia on the eve of the summit organized by the government of leftist President Gustavo Petro with the aim of restarting stalled negotiations between Venezuela's government and opposition politicians in Mexico.

His visit to Colombia was not warmly welcomed by some officials as Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva said Guaido entered the Andean country inappropriately. (Compiled by Gabriel Araujo and Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Josie Kao)

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