Brazil

• Thursday, January 31st 2013 - 07:10 UTC

  Brazil’s media: highly concentrated and heavily reliant on government advertising

  

  Reporters Without Borders released a report entitled “Brazil, the country of 30 Berlusconis” that examines all of the shortcomings of the country’s media landscape It is based on fact-finding visits to Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Brasilia in November 2012.

• Wednesday, January 30th 2013 - 08:52 UTC

  Brazilian economy creates the least payroll jobs in 2012 since 2003

  

  The once-booming Brazilian economy created the fewest new jobs in a decade during 2012 as struggling manufacturing industries and mining companies hired fewer workers, according to Labour ministry data. Latinamerica’s leading economy added 1.3 million payroll jobs last year, the worst result since 2003 and way below the 2 million jobs created in 2011.

• Wednesday, January 30th 2013 - 06:39 UTC

  Brazil committed to CELAC and to all regional and subregional integration groups

  

  Brazil said Latinamerica and Caribbean cohesion does not only mean strengthening CELAC (Community of Latinamerican and Caribbean States) but also advancing in the other integration processes of the region.

• Wednesday, January 30th 2013 - 06:22 UTC

  Sao Paulo delegation in UK with PPP infrastructure projects worth 20bn dollars

  

  British Trade Minister Lord Green has welcomed a trade delegation from the Government of the state of Sao Paulo who are in the UK to present eight Public Private Partnership (PPP) infrastructure projects, worth 20 billion dollars, to British potential contractors.

• Monday, January 28th 2013 - 04:10 UTC

  Santa Maria tragedy: Three days of national mourning; Rousseff cuts short political summit in Chile

  

  Brazil declared on Sunday three days of national mourning and flags at half mast following the tragedy in the southern university city of Santa Maria where at least 233 people were killed or trampled to death when a disco went on fire.

• Saturday, January 26th 2013 - 21:23 UTC

  Lagarde surprised at the ‘very slow’ recovery of the Brazilian economy

  

  IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said she is unsure about Brazil’s economic outlook despite the country’s official estimate of 3.5% growth this year, since recovery is “very slow” as the 1% of 2012 showed.

• Saturday, January 26th 2013 - 20:44 UTC

  Mercosur/Paraguay controversy reaches EU/CELAC summit in Chile

  

  Chile confirmed that Paraguay finally decided not to attend the EU/CELAC summit in Chile putting an end to a controversy when it emerged that several Mercosur and Unasur members insisted that the landlocked country should not be invited.

• Friday, January 25th 2013 - 07:49 UTC

  Brazil’s Vale suspends ‘indefinitely’ 6bn potash project in Argentina

  

  Brazil’s government managed Vale and the world’s third-largest mining company, suspended works at its 6 billion dollars potash project in Argentina indefinitely. A suspension at the Rio Colorado potash project in the Argentine province of Mendoza since last month will be maintained, the Rio de Janeiro-based company said in an e-mail.

• Friday, January 25th 2013 - 07:34 UTC

  Brazil development bank plans to invest almost a trillion dollars in next three years

  

  Brazil’s Social and Economic Development Bank (BNDES) has plans to invest 1.858 trillion Reais (approx 906bn dollars) between 2013 and 2016. In 2012, total investments amounted to approximately 156 billion Reais, up 12% compared to 2011, and a total of 2.394 trillion Reais was invested between 2008 and 2012.

• Friday, January 25th 2013 - 04:43 UTC

  Monsanto reaches agreement on patent royalties with Brazilian soybean farmers

  

  Monsanto the world’s biggest seed company agreed to waive two years of royalties on its Roundup Ready soybean seeds for Brazilian farmers who agree to forgo claims in a patent dispute.