Brazil

• Thursday, February 21st 2013 - 05:27 UTC

  Mercosur begins technical meetings for new proposals on trade accord with EU

  

  Mercosur will retake next March technical discussions for a new proposal to be presented to the European Union for a trade and cooperation agreement, announced Argentine Foreign minister Hector Timerman next to his peer Antonio Patriota following bilateral talks on Wednesday in Rio do Janeiro.

• Thursday, February 21st 2013 - 04:45 UTC

  Brazilian soybean farmers oppose contract with Monsanto to end royalties’ dispute

  

  Brazilian farmer groups are opposing a contract that Monsanto the world’s biggest seed company is offering farmers to end a dispute over royalty payments on its genetically modified soybean seeds. Monsanto is trying to resolve uncertainty over its ability to collect fees on its new Intacta soybeans, which it is scheduled to start selling in Brazil during the next growing season.

• Thursday, February 21st 2013 - 01:44 UTC

  Rousseff says end of poverty is close; 48 million Brazilians registered in social support programs

  

  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff raised the monthly stipend of 2.5 million people living below the poverty line to make good on her promise to eradicate extreme poverty in Brazil. Even when announcing she has almost met her anti-poverty target halfway through her four-year term, Brazil’s last census points to 700,000 families who still live in extreme poverty but are not registered on government social programs.

• Wednesday, February 20th 2013 - 05:41 UTC

  “Sustainability party” is born in Brazil headed by tireless fighter for Amazon rainforest protection

  

  Former Brazilian environment minister and presidential candidate Marina Silva has launched a new political party with an eye on next year’s presidential elections. The new party is called “Sustainability Network.” It was launched in Brasilia at a meeting of politicians, congressmen and other Silva supporters.

• Tuesday, February 19th 2013 - 05:18 UTC

  Brazil heading for record crop of 185 million tons of grains, anticipated Rousseff

  

  Brazil this year will harvest the largest grain and oilseed crop in the country’s history, which could reach 185 million tons, according to an announcement from President Dilma Rousseff during her weekly radio message.

• Monday, February 18th 2013 - 06:18 UTC

  Mantega anticipates higher interest rate to help keep inflation under control

  

  Brazil’s Finance minister Guido Mantega in Moscow for the G-20 meeting, said that inflation above the government's target raises a yellow flag and that monetary policy, not the exchange rate, is the right tool to control prices.

• Monday, February 18th 2013 - 06:14 UTC

  Brazil deploys elite forces in southern state to contain wave of violent attacks from drug lords

  

  Elite police commando units fanned out across the streets of the Brazilian southern state of Santa Catarina over the weekend in an attempt to contain a wave of violent attacks over the past two weeks.

• Monday, February 18th 2013 - 00:24 UTC

  Cruise industry warns South America: itinerary costs are three times higher than in the Mediterranean

  

  Representatives from the cruise industry have cautioned Uruguay that port operational costs in South America could have a negative impact on what has been a steady increase of business in the last few seasons and this impact could be felt as soon as next year despite the fact that the 2012/2013 season on the Atlantic is proving to be quite successful despite an uncertain start. “Itineraries’ costs in South America are three times those of the Mediterranean”.

• Saturday, February 16th 2013 - 20:50 UTC

  Brazilian business community demands the country signs trade accords with third countries

  

  Brazilian businesspeople and diplomats expressed their disappointment with Mercosur and said it was crucial for Brazil to sign free trade agreements on its own with third countries, which under current rules of the South American trade block are not allowed.

• Friday, February 15th 2013 - 05:40 UTC

  Apple fighting to recover “iPhone” trademark registered in Brazil by local company

  

  Apple Inc, which lost the rights to its iPhone trademark in Brazil this week, is challenging the ruling by Brazil's copyright regulator to prevent local firm Gradiente Eletronica SA from using the “iphone” brand name.