Brazil

• Wednesday, September 1st 2010 - 06:34 UTC

  Brazilian July industrial output grows at lower than expected rate

  

  Brazilian industrial production output experienced an increase of 0.4% in July from a month earlier, which is less than expected according to a report released by the Brazilian national statistics bureau IBGE in Río de Janeiro, compared with a 1% decline in June.

• Wednesday, September 1st 2010 - 06:10 UTC

  Brazil promotes tourism to Rio’s (crime-free) favelas (shanty towns)

  

  Tourists usually try to run from Brazil’s Rio do Janeiro's notorious slums. Now officials headed by President Lula da Silva are inviting them to come and visit instead. The Santa Marta shantytown this week became the first community in a program meant to promote tourism in the poor neighbourhoods that are home to some unique music and art work.

• Wednesday, September 1st 2010 - 06:02 UTC

  Brazilian beef producer wants to sell abattoirs and reduce Argentine operations

  

  Brazil’s JBS, the world's top beef producer is trying to sell three of its Argentine plants due to government policies that have depleted cattle stocks and supply and hurt profits, a trade group said on Tuesday.

• Wednesday, September 1st 2010 - 05:57 UTC

  Colombia’s Santos meets Lula da Silva in his first overseas visit

  

  Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos arrived Tuesday in Brazil for an official two-day state visit that begins Wednesday with a meeting with President Lula da Silva to address a regional political agenda and strengthen bilateral trade.

• Wednesday, September 1st 2010 - 02:48 UTC

  Lifting Mercosur out of its “institutional paralysis”, Rousseff’s main challenge

  

  Consolidating South American integration would be the main foreign policy priority of the Brazilian ruling party presidential candidate Dilma Rousseff if public opinion polls are confirmed at the ballot box next October 3 and she emerges as the successor of Lula da Silva.

• Monday, August 30th 2010 - 19:28 UTC

  Brazil preparing to act against the strong appreciation of its currency

  

  Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega said foreign-based companies operating in Brazil should consider sending some profits home as the exchange rate is unlikely to remain as favorable as it is now.

• Monday, August 30th 2010 - 07:03 UTC

  Serra in disarray “campaigns” for Lula da Silva’s protégé Dilma

  

  While the Brazilian ruling coalition presidential candidate Dilma Rousseff consolidates her lead in opinion polls and is almost certain to win in the first round October 3, her main rival Jose Serra’s campaign seems to have fallen in disarray.

• Saturday, August 28th 2010 - 07:18 UTC

  Brazilian Supreme Court lifts ban on political candidates and parties satire

  

  Brazil's Supreme Court suspended starting Friday the rule banning radio and television comedians and programs from producing political satire about parties and their candidates in the October election.

• Saturday, August 28th 2010 - 06:41 UTC

  Bank of Brasil targets US, Chile, Peru, Uruguay and Colombia to expand

  

  Bank of Brasil, Latin America’s biggest bank by assets plans the acquisition of banks in Chile and the United States and is holding negotiations to further expand in Peru, Colombia and Uruguay, said Aldemir Bendine the bank’s CEO.

• Friday, August 27th 2010 - 07:54 UTC

  Dilma Rousseff forecasted to take “bold actions” including budget cuts

  

  As public opinion polls confirm the growing commanding gap between Brazil’s ruling coalition presidential candidate Dilma Rousseff and her main contender Jose Serra, analysts have begun to ponder on her policies.