RENO (AP) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and six other senators left Sunday on a trip to Latin America.
The Nevada Democrat and his colleagues are scheduled to visit Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala and Paraguay.
Plans call for them to meet with the presidents of Guatemala, Colombia, Paraguay and Mexico, as well as key labor and trade officials.
"The purpose is to strengthen ties to an important region in the world," Reid spokesman Federico de Jesus told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "It's also a region that has been ignored and neglected by the Bush administration."
The senators plan to address trade, immigration, anti-drug and human rights issues during their meetings, he said.
They also plan to discuss a proposed free trade agreement with Colombia that has stalled in Congress.
Other senators making the trip are Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.; Thad Cochran, R-Miss.; Kent Conrad, D-N.D.; Mike Crapo, R-Idaho; Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.; and Robert Menendez, D-N.J.
Reid plans to return Dec. 2, two days before the Senate returns from Thanksgiving break.
Reid spokesman Jon Summers said the trip marks Reid's second trip to the region as Senate majority leader. He visited other South American countries last December, he said.
California man arrested after gun fired at Reno church
RENO (AP) - A Sunnyvale, Calif., man was arrested after a gun was fired during a fight at a wedding reception at a Reno church, officers said.
Pasilio Tevita Tava, 23, was taken into custody after the incident late Saturday afternoon at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on Wyoming Avenue.
The suspect is accused of removing the gun from his waistband during the fight and pointing it at another wedding guest. He pulled the trigger, but the gun did not fire, investigators said.
After Tava allegedly pointed the gun again at the same guest, another guest grabbed the weapon and caused it to discharge into the ground, police said.
The suspect and his acquaintances fled in two vehicles, but were stopped a short time later by officers.
Tava was booked into the Washoe County Jail for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon and discharge of a firearm in public.
Although the suspect is believed to be a gang member, police said they don't think the incident was gang-related.