Brazil

• Wednesday, July 10th 2013 - 17:35 UTC

  Brazil’s research company which turned the country into world breadbasket turns 40

  

  Embrapa (Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisas Agropecuarias) created tropical agriculture in Brazil, thus allowing the country to become the giant food producer it is today. Hailed for the work done in adapting soybeans to the hot, humid, acidic climes of the Cerrado savannah, where nearly 17% of the world's beans are now cultivated, the state-run research company is a national treasure.

• Wednesday, July 10th 2013 - 06:09 UTC

  Mercosur and Paraguay on collision course; Uruguay insists Venezuela will hold the chair of the group

  

  Paraguay reiterated on Tuesday that if Venezuela assumes as pro termpore chair of Mercosur, it is not interested in returning to the group and discarded Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pledge to ensure Paraguay is fully reincorporated.

• Wednesday, July 10th 2013 - 05:45 UTC

  Brazil decides exhumation of ex-president Goulart, believed to have been poisoned by the military regime

  

  Brazilian authorities decided the exhumation of former president Joao Goulart remains to determine whether he was poisoned as part of the Plan Condor implemented by the Southern Cone military regimes to eliminate opponents during the seventies and eighties.

• Tuesday, July 9th 2013 - 06:23 UTC

  State Department confirms dialogue with Brazil on the alleged intelligence activity

  

  The US State Department spokesperson during the daily briefing declined to comment on the alleged intelligence activity in Brazil but admitted dialogue with the Brazilians through normal diplomatic channels, but those conversations ‘of course we would keep private’.

• Tuesday, July 9th 2013 - 06:17 UTC

  Brazil investigating if telecom companies cooperated with the US spying program

  

  Brazil began an investigation Monday into whether telecommunications firms operating in the country cooperated with the U.S. as part of a spying program that has collected data on billions of telephone and email conversations. Anatel, the government agency that regulates the telecom sector in Brazil, said in a note that it's working with federal police and other government agencies on the investigation.

• Tuesday, July 9th 2013 - 00:09 UTC

  Brazil drops the idea of Cuban doctors and will hire physicians from Spain and Portugal

  

  The Brazilian government, under pressure to improve public health services, has dropped plans to import a contingent of Cuban doctors and is instead looking to hire physicians in Spain and Portugal, the Health Ministry said on Monday.

• Tuesday, July 9th 2013 - 00:01 UTC

  Brazilian Congress wants to question ambassador about US surveillance in the country

  

  Lawmakers in Brazil said Monday they want to question Washington's ambassador here about revelations that the United States has collected and stored the e-mail and telephone records of millions of Brazilians.

• Monday, July 8th 2013 - 04:13 UTC

  Brazil demands an explanation from the US regarding electronic surveillance of its citizens and companies

  

  Brazil will demand an explanation from the United States over reports its citizens' electronic communications have been under surveillance by US spy agencies for at least a decade, foreign minister Antonio Patriota said on Sunday.

• Saturday, July 6th 2013 - 05:12 UTC

  Brazil inflation in June slowed to 0.2% and 3.15% in six months, but still ahead of target

  

  Inflation in Brazil slowed to 0.2% in June compared to the month before, but, at 6.7% over 12 months, was still well above the government's target of 4.5%, according to the latest official figures released on Friday.

• Friday, July 5th 2013 - 23:52 UTC

  Brazil cuts spending determined to ensure 2.3% primary surplus, pledges Mantega

  

  Brazil announced on Friday it will immediately cut government spending by 6.65 billion dollars to balance the budget and achieve the goal of a primary fiscal surplus of 2.3% of GDP. The decision is seen as a strong signal to recover investors’ confidence following weeks of turmoil and poor performance of the economy.