Brazil

• Sunday, April 1st 2012 - 08:13 UTC

  Brazil considering tax breaks and higher tariffs to help struggling industries

  

  Brazil will extend a payroll tax break to some manufacturers as part of a package of new measures to help struggling industries in a move to help the recovery of Latin America's top economy, a senior government source revealed to the local media.

• Sunday, April 1st 2012 - 07:58 UTC

  Oil leaks cast a shadow over the development of Brazil’s offshore huge reserves

  

  Brazilian authorities identified a small oil leak off the shores of Rio de Janeiro on Saturday, the latest in a series of spills that has raised safety concerns over the development of some of the world's largest petroleum reserves.

• Friday, March 30th 2012 - 23:03 UTC

  Lula da Silva admits he feared loosing his voice more than dying

  

  Former Brazilian president Lula da Silva said in an interview published this week that he feared losing his voice more than dying when he was diagnosed with larynx cancer.

• Friday, March 30th 2012 - 07:39 UTC

  Brazil monetary authorities suggest benchmark rate could fall to 9% (from 9.75%)

  

  Brazil's Central Bank Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) reaffirmed the likelihood it will continue to cut rates and at the same time perhaps put into question its commitment to the 4.5% inflation target for 2013, according to the quarterly inflation report released Thursday morning.

• Friday, March 30th 2012 - 07:05 UTC

  Brazil’s union files lawsuit against Chevron and Transocean over oil spill

  

  Brazil's largest oil workers union filed a lawsuit against US oil company Chevron and drilling firm Transocean that seeks to cancel their rights to operate in the country as the result of an offshore oil spill last November.

• Friday, March 30th 2012 - 06:41 UTC

  Brazil’s 1964/85 military blackout on human rights abuses up for review

  

  Rio do Janeiro riot police used pepper spray and tear gas on Thursday to chase protesters away from a celebration by retired soldiers marking the March 1964 coup that established Brazil's long military dictatorship.

• Thursday, March 29th 2012 - 07:10 UTC

  Brazilian congress breaks gridlock on legislative agenda including “FIFA bill”

  

  Brazilian lawmakers on Wednesday moved a step closer to passing a long-delayed measure key to preparations for the 2014 soccer World Cup, breaking a gridlock in Congress that threatened to delay President Dilma Rousseff's legislative agenda.

• Thursday, March 29th 2012 - 07:07 UTC

  Lula da Silva announces his back in politics after defeating cancer

  

  Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced Wednesday that he was returning to politics after being told that his larynx cancer was in “complete remission.”

• Tuesday, March 27th 2012 - 12:49 UTC

  Brazil and India discussing military accord based on the French Rafale fighter jet

  

  President Dilma Rousseff plans to use her New Delhi visit later this week to sound out Indian leaders on the French Rafale fighter jet, which she is considering buying to beef up Brazil's air force.

• Tuesday, March 27th 2012 - 12:11 UTC

  Import barriers and inflation change Argentina’s industrial production scenario

  

  Argentina's industrial production fell unexpectedly in February, after 28 consecutive months of expansion, as weaker demand from Brazil hit the key automobile sector. Industrial output fell 0.8% from February 2011 and slid 1.4% from the previous month, said Indec.