Brazil

• 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.

• Monday, March 26th 2012 - 08:25 UTC

  A majority of Brazilian (54%) joined the ranks of middle class in eight years

  

  The number of Brazilians categorized as middle class has risen rapidly in recent years, climbing from 34% of the population in 2004 to 54% in 2011, according to a study released by consumer finance firm Cetelem BGN and the Ipsos research institute.

• Sunday, March 25th 2012 - 08:56 UTC

  Brazil has a new representative at FIFA executive committee

  

  The president of Brazil's biggest and most influential state soccer organization will replace Ricardo Teixeira as Brazil's representative on FIFA executive committee, South America's football confederation has announced.

• Saturday, March 24th 2012 - 02:52 UTC

  Argentina is facing serious trade problems and Brazil “must help in a mature way”

  

  Argentina is having serious trade problems and Brazil “in a mature way” must try and help solve them said a top official from President Dilma Rousseff administration, who anticipated he would be travelling to Buenos Aires in coming weeks.

• Friday, March 23rd 2012 - 06:00 UTC

  World’s largest beef producer cuts losses in Argentina and prepares to leave

  

  Brazil’s JBS, the world's biggest beef producer is on the verge of exiting Argentina due to a difficult business environment and because it is not prepared to tolerate further losses in the country.

• Friday, March 23rd 2012 - 02:25 UTC

  One in five manufactured goods consumed in Brazil were imports

  

  Almost one in five manufactured goods consumed in Brazil during 2011 was imported, according to the ‘commercial opening coefficient’ survey undertaken by the country’s National Industry Confederation, CNI, and released this week in Sao Paulo.