Brazil vice president recovering from surgery

Associated Press, 01/26/2009
Doctors say Brazilian Vice President Jose Alencar is in stable condition after undergoing a 17-hour surgery to remove abdominal tumors.
The press office of the Hospital Sirio-Libanes says Alencar is recovering at the facility’s intensive care unit. Alencar’s doctors told local media on Monday that the surgery went “very well,” but it was [...]

Brazil’s Foreign Direct Investment Surged in December

Andre Soliani and Iuri Dantas-Bloomberg, 01/26/2009
Brazil registered its second-biggest monthly flow of foreign direct investment in December, pushing the annual total in 2008 to a record, the central bank said.
Foreign direct investment surged to $8.12 billion last month from a revised $2.18 billion in November, helping Brazil post an annual record for FDI of [...]

Brazil ready to build refinery minus Venezuela aid

Associated Press, 01/21/2009
An executive with Brazil’s state oil company says his country is prepared to build a $4.1 billion refinery without Venezuela’s financial participation or oil supplies.
Paulo Roberto Costa is downstream director for Petroleo Brasileiro SA. He says Brazil and Venezuela are at odds over the price of the Venezuelan heavy crude that would go [...]

Changing times for Brazil’s landless

Gary Duffy-BBC News, 01/23/2009
Among fields of sugar cane, 120 landless rural families have taken over an area of state-owned land as part of a campaign for agrarian reform. Accommodation is basic, consisting of shacks made of plastic, wood and tin, and in the frequent tropical storms, the rain often comes pouring through.
The families try to [...]

Brazil posts 1st current account deficit since 2002

Reuters, 01/26/2009
Brazil’s current account fell into deficit in 2008 for the first time in six years as the global financial crisis prompted foreigners to repatriate money abroad and investors to pull cash out of emerging markets.
The $2.92 billion deficit in December was higher than expected and much bigger than a $498 million deficit in the [...]

Brazil unemployment rate at 7-year low

Bradley Brooks-Associated Press, 01/22/2009
Brazil’s unemployment rate dropped to its lowest point in seven years, officials said Thursday _ but analysts warned joblessness is expected to rise as businesses struggling to obtain credit in a global financial crisis begin laying off employees.
The government took steps to address those concerns: Finance Minister Guido Mantega announced on Thursday [...]

Amazon deforestation drops sharply

Marco Sibaja-Associated Press, 01/23/2009
Deforestation in the Amazon dropped sharply in late 2008, a Brazilian environmental group said Friday. The government credited improved law enforcement, but environmentalists say a slowing economy likely contributed.
The Imazon environmental group said satellite images showed that 635 square kilometers (245 square miles) of forest _ an area about the size of [...]

Latam stocks up on oil, metals recovery

Associated Press, 01/23/2009
Latin American stocks rose modestly on Friday after oil and metal prices climbed. Brazil’s Bovespa index jumped 0.6 percent to 38,132, and Mexico’s benchmark IPC bumped up 0.2 percent to 19,348. Argentina’s Merval closed up 0.6 percent at 1,064, and Chile’s IPSA closed nearly flat at 2,495.
Friday was a day of mild relief [...]

In Brazil’s industrial hub, crisis starts to bite

Stuart Grudgings-Reuters, 01/26/2009
Rust-colored iron ore trains still rumble through Volta Redonda, but workers in this steel town are feeling the strain as economic crisis slams the brakes on the industries that fueled Brazil’s recent boom.
Plunging factory output and mounting job losses show that Latin America’s biggest economy is being hit hard, only four months after [...]

Brazil stocks rise on positive int’l banking news

Associated Press, 01/26/2009
Brazilian stocks are rising after Britain’s Barclays bank said it made a good profit in 2008 and did not need a government bailout.
Brazil’s Ibovespa index was up 0.2 percent to 38,223 in the first 30 minutes of trading. The nation’s currency, the real, rose against the dollar.
The gains Monday for shares of big [...]