Brazil

• Thursday, December 29th 2011 - 21:50 UTC

  Dilma in her first year is proving to be an Iron Lady loved by the middle class

  

  Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff will be celebrating on Sunday her first of four years in office with a record public opinion support of 72%, based on a sober and firm style in running what has become the world’s sixth largest economy.

• Wednesday, December 28th 2011 - 03:58 UTC

  Mexican telecoms giant planning to invest 5.4bn dollars in Brazil

  

  The Brazilian subsidiaries of Mexican telecoms giant America Movil are planning 10 billion Reais (5.4 billion dollars) worth of new investment in 2012, Folha de São Paulo said on Tuesday.

• Tuesday, December 27th 2011 - 13:57 UTC

  Argentine Media bill: “a dictatorship couldn’t have done it better”

  

  The conservative and influential Brazilian newspaper O Estado de Sao Paulo in an editorial described the Argentine government as an “austral democradura” (authoritarian regime) which is sponsoring legislation “to terrorize the media”.

• Tuesday, December 27th 2011 - 13:56 UTC

  Brazil votes 2012 budget limiting civil servants salaries and pension increases

  

  The Brazilian Congress approved next year's budget bill, rejecting wage increases for pensioners and public servants in a bid to contain spending as volatility advances in international markets.

• Tuesday, December 27th 2011 - 13:54 UTC

  Rousseff reiterates pledge to eliminate extreme poverty in Brazil by 2014

  

  President Dilma Rousseff, about to complete her first year in office, reiterated she remains committed to eliminate extreme poverty in Brazil by the end of her term in 2013.

• Monday, December 26th 2011 - 21:10 UTC

  Brazil overtakes the UK and becomes the world’s sixth largest economy

  

  Brazil has overtaken the UK as the world's sixth largest economy according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research, CEBR. The latest World Economic League Table also showed Asian countries moving up and European countries falling back.

• Monday, December 26th 2011 - 17:25 UTC

  “Falkland Islands don’t want to join Argentina”

  

  From Monday's Globe and Mail (*)
  The Falkland Islands, a windswept archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, are a British Overseas Territory, and have been since 1833. The 3,000 inhabitants of this Island are proud to be British subjects, and no amount of Argentine huffing or puffing will change that.

• Monday, December 26th 2011 - 11:23 UTC

  Brazil slaps another fine on Chevron for November oil spill off Rio do Janeiro

  

  Brazil's Environment Institute ordered US oil giant Chevron to pay another fine related to the early November oil spill off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.

• Monday, December 26th 2011 - 11:18 UTC

  The Guardian: “Britain is asleep over Argentina and the Falklands”

  

  In a piece published last week in London daily The Guardian, and referred to the recent Mercosur support for Argentina in the Falkland Islands dispute, Richard Gott argues that a new scenario has emerged with South America growing in strength, increasingly united and no longer looking to Europe for support and advice which means a different framework for the Falkland Islands s sovereignty dispute.

• Saturday, December 24th 2011 - 03:47 UTC

  Merry Christmas from MercoPress

  

  MercoPress wishes a happy holiday season to all its readers.