New Book: “Joaquim Nabuco, British abolitionists and the end of slavery in Brazil: Correspondence 1880-1905″

“A little studied aspect of the struggle to abolish slavery in Brazil in the 1880s is the relationship established and maintained between Joaquim Nabuco, the leading Brazilian abolitionist, and the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society in London. The correspondence between Nabuco and Charles Harris Allen, Secretary of the Anti-Slavery Society, and other British abolitionists throughout [...]

BRICs Show No Death of Equities in Emerging Markets

Michael Patterson-Bloomberg, 02/12/2009
The only major stock markets recording gains of more than 8 percent this year are China, Russia and Brazil, and India’s benchmark index is little changed.
That’s enough of a sign that the so-called BRICs are showing a resilience unimaginable in the U.S., most of Europe and Japan.
While the evidence varies among [...]

Banco do Brasil May Get Funds From Brazil Treasury, Valor Says

Laura Price-Bloomberg, 02/13/2009
Banco do Brasil SA may get additional funds from Brazil’s treasury, Valor Economico reported, without saying where it got the information.
The central bank and Finance Ministry are looking into ways to reopen credit lines and bring down borrowing costs, the Sao Paulo-based newspaper said. The government is considering injecting capital into the [...]

Petrobras says no clear estimate for Santos block

Reuters, 02/13/2009
Brazilian state owned oil group Petrobras said late on Thursday it has no conclusive estimate for recoverable reserves at the BM-S-9 block it operates off the coast of Sao Paulo state.
Repsol which has a 25 percent stake in the Santos Basin block, said on Wednesday the block could hold 2-6 billion barrels of [...]

Brazil’s Bovespa index jumps 3 pct on global rally

Reuters, 02/13/2009
Brazil’s benchmark stock index jumped 3 percent in early trade on Friday, heading for its first gain in five sessions as a rally in global markets increased appetite for riskier emerging market securities.
The Bovespa index .BVSP of the Sao Paulo stock exchange surged to 41,729.52 points from 40,500.79 on Thursday, after a four-day rout [...]

Beyond Wisteria Lane

The Economist, 02/12/2009
Scott Fitzgerald was wrong. It is not the rich who are different but the middle classes.
Brazil offers a case study in the differences between a middle class created by the state and one that owes more to the private sector. In 2008 Brazil became a middle-class country by its own reckoning. In April [...]

Commodity Price Dive Hits Latin Economies

Matt Moffett-The Wall Street Journal, 02/12/2009
For almost six years, rising commodities prices and favorable weather were a boon to corporations and governments throughout Latin America. Natural-resources tycoons were born, Andean mining towns and coastal oil towns boomed, and foreign investors piled into Latin stocks whose names they could barely pronounce. Governments paid off debts and [...]

Brazilian stocks fall on energy, mining shares

Reuters, 02/11/2009
Brazil’s stocks and currency fell on Wednesday, dragged down by energy and mining shares as industrial metal prices slumped, even as U.S. stocks perked up on bargain hunting and hopes for a stimulus package.
The Bovespa index of the Sao Paulo stock exchange closed 0.88 percent lower at 40,845.62 points, extending the losses of the [...]

Former Latin American presidents blast drug repression efforts

Associated Press, 02/11/2009
Three former Latin American presidents said Wednesday that regional policymakers should consider the decriminalization of marijuana because long-standing attempts to curb the production and trafficking of illicit drugs have failed.
In a report by the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy, former presidents Cesar Gaviria of Colombia, Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and Fernando [...]

Brazil to Build 1 Million Homes by 2010, Lula Says

Iuri Dantas and Joshua Goodman-Bloomberg, 02/11/2009
Brazil’s president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said the government will help build 1 million new homes by 2010 to revive economic growth as the global financial crisis leads to layoffs in Latin America’s largest economy.
Lula, speaking to reporters today in Brasilia, said he’s discussing with state and municipal [...]