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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, January 25th 2026 - 05:18 UTC

Brazil

  • Tuesday, January 16th 2018 - 09:34 UTC

    Economic activity in Brazil expands for third month running

    Brazil’s GDP likely grew 1% last year, snapping a two-year period of contraction as slow inflation and record low interest rates propped up consumer spending.

    Economic activity in Brazil expanded for a third straight month in November, the longest stretch of gains since 2014, suggesting strong momentum at the end of the year. The central bank’s economic activity index rose 0.49% from October after seasonal adjustments

  • Monday, January 15th 2018 - 10:33 UTC

    Brazil forecasts 110m tons of soybeans and 25m tons of corn in 2017/18 harvest

    Yields are now seen at 3,156 kg/ha, up from 3,123 kg/ha in December, but below the record of 3,364 kg/ha in 2016-17, when nearly perfect weather helped crops.

    Brazilian official crop agency Conab has raised its crop estimates for soybeans and corn in 2017-18, as improved weather boosts yields and planted areas are revised higher.
    Conab said in a monthly report that the current soybean crop, which was already planted and is under development, will reach 110.44 million tons, up from 109.18 million tons in December but still below the record of 114.08 million tons in 2016-17.

  • Friday, January 12th 2018 - 10:58 UTC

    S&P downgrades Brazil's credit rating; delay of pension system reform takes the blame

    The decision underscored concerns that a business-friendly reform agenda proposed by unpopular president Temer may stall this year

    Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s cut Brazil’s credit rating further below investment grade on Thursday as doubts grew about a presidential election in October and a push to trim its costly pension system, seen as vital to closing a huge fiscal deficit. S&P lowered its long-term rating for Brazil sovereign debt to BB- from BB previously, with a stable outlook, citing less timely and effective policymaking. S&P also cited a risk of greater policy uncertainty after this year’s elections.

  • Friday, January 12th 2018 - 10:26 UTC

    Brazilian inflation ends 2017 at 2.95%, below the bottom of central bank target

    In a monthly comparison, Brazil's CPI rose 0.44% in December, accelerating from a 0.28% increase in November, said the IBGE. Analysts expected a 0.30% growth.

    The annual inflation rate in Brazil increased to 2.95% in December, from 2.50% in November, rising above economists' projections of 2.80%, but ending the year below the bottom of the central bank's target for 2017, which ranged from 3% to 6%.

  • Thursday, January 11th 2018 - 10:19 UTC

    Brazil looks into the past to implement legislation punishing political “fake news”

    “In the next few days, the Federal Police will begin activities in Brasília by a specially formed group to combat false news during the 2018 election process”

    Brazil is the latest country to unveil plans to censor the Internet, following in the footsteps of Germany, France, and other European countries. Earlier this week the country’s official Twitter account for the Federal Police, (equivalent to FBI), announced efforts to “punish” anyone who disseminates political content it deems “false.” The federal government of Brazil is extending its ability to enforce regulation and control of its sector of the Internet.

  • Thursday, January 11th 2018 - 10:12 UTC

    Weddel seal ends on the mid Atlantic Brazilian island of Trindade

    The polar mammal had travelled more than 5,000km north of its Antarctic habitat; more than 1,500 kilometers beyond the farthest north previous record in Uruguay.

    The Brazilian Navy spotted something unusual in the azure waters of the South Atlantic. In 2015, at a remote outpost and biological research station on the island of Trindade, 1,100 kilometers off central Brazil, sailors spotted a small gray seal swimming in the waves. Two days later, they found its body on the island’s Catelha beach. Scientists who went to take a closer look made an astonishing discovery—the corpse was a young Weddell seal.

  • Thursday, January 11th 2018 - 10:11 UTC

    US, via Paraguay, largest source of guns entering Brazil

    Guns from US generally enter Brazil through direct shipments of assembled weapons, of gun parts or indirect shipments through a third country, Paraguay

    The United States is the largest source of guns entering Brazil that end up in the hands of armed bandits and drug traffickers, according to a Brazilian Federal Police report. Roughly 1,500 guns originated in the United States out of a study of more than 10,000 arms seized by police since 2014, mostly in Rio de Janeiro, the December 2017 report said, although the guns often traveled through a third country before arriving in Brazil.

  • Wednesday, January 10th 2018 - 10:14 UTC

    Blue tongue outbreak among sheep in Brazil

    “Blue tongue” is a non-contagious, insect-borne, viral disease of ruminants, mainly sheep and less frequently cattle, goats, buffalo, deer, dromedaries, and antelope.

    Uruguayan animal health authorities are on the alert following the outbreak of a blue tongue focus among sheep in south Brazil. The outbreak has been located in Santa Maria, in central Rio Grande do Sul, and Uruguay's Agriculture and Livestock ministry has strengthened controls along the border which divides the rich farmland region.

  • Wednesday, January 10th 2018 - 10:03 UTC

    Brazilian politics at its best: nepotism and a sentenced rapist to Congress

    The future minister Cristiane Brasil, was ordered to pay a labor debt to a driver who provided services to her family for three years.

    Brazilian president Michel Temer's latest cabinet reshuffle has not been very encouraging or in accordance with his survival abilities so far. In effect the candidate named as future minister of Labor had to reach a debt payment deal with a driver that provided services to the family, and the politician who will be replacing her in Congress was sentenced for raping minors.

  • Tuesday, January 9th 2018 - 10:01 UTC

    Brazilian stocks edge higher convinced Lula will be barred from running in election

    The rally in Brazilian stocks has been supported by investor betting on a market-friendly winner in this year's presidential elections

    Brazilian stocks edged higher to mark a record close on Monday, underpinned by optimism over the nation's fiscal outlook as well as a strong flow of international investment. The benchmark Bovespa stock index continued its climb following a seven-day string of gains.