International and Biofuels News on Brazil Archives

Biofuels will be the biggest threat to biodiversity in the world
Folha de S. Paulo, 7/10/07

On July 2, Lestor Brown, a pioneer of the environmentalist movement, conceded an interview to Folha, in which he predicted the use of ‘food for fuels’ will cause an “epic dispute” between the 800 million car owners and the more than 2 billion of the world’s poor. Brown argues that the increased demand for corn-based ethanol has inflated the price of food throughout the world. He also identifies the increasing demand for biofuels as the “greatest threat to biodiversity in the world.” While the environmentalist community initially saw biofuels as a promising alternative to carbon-derived energy sources, it is now withdrawing some of its support for ethanol. Brown goes on to discuss the potential environmental impacts of the world’s growing energy demands.

Betting on biofuels
The McKinsey Quarterly, July 2007

Billions of dollars, euros, pounds and reais are pouring into biofuels. High fuel prices and generous regulatory support have given the industry healthy margins and relatively short investment payback times. Meanwhile, the triumphs of the first movers and dreams of future growth are enticing companies in industries from petroleum and agribusiness to biotechnology, chemicals, engineering and financial services. The allure of a greener future has raised the expectations of investors and bystanders who hope that biofuels will help meet the world’s energy needs while lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

International Biofuels Forum Declaration
U.N. Organization, 7/6/07

Brazil, China, India, South Africa, the United States, and the European
Commission, united by the common mission of promoting the international
market for the sustainable development of biofuels. Committed to enhancing the exchange of information related to the production, consumption, distribution, storage, and trade of biofuels, as well as to support innovation across the biofuels market; Working to promote the international market for biofuels through the establishment of common standards and codes.

Brazil urges EU to scrap biofuel tariffs
Business Week, 7/6/07

Brazil—the world's largest producer of biofuels—has suggested the EU should scrap its biofuel import tariffs, challenging it to both compete more fairly in international trade while finding ways to live up to its green targets. Speaking at an International Biofuels Conference in Brussels on Thursday (5 July), Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva said it was a historic opportunity for the developed world to help build a "prosperous and fair world" but that the barriers to entering the agricultural market in the developed world, such as the EU, were preventing this.

EU seeks out Brazil as a new trading partner
Reuters, 7/5/07

The EU invited Brazil yesterday to join a small group of strategic partners in what the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said would revive a historic relationship. South American powerhouse Brazil would join a group including Russia, India, and China, which have such agreements with the EU. Portuguese prime minister, Jose Socrates, said upgrading ties with Brazil would give coherence to EU foreign policy by now including all the so-called BRIC -- Brazil, Russia, India, and China -- countries as special partners.

Goals for sugar, ethanol and bioelectricity
O Estado de S. Paulo, 7/4/07

Marcos S. Jank, president of the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Union, asserts that electric energy and alternative sources of fuel, the new paradigm for the world’s agroindustry, has generated a level of euphoria without precedent. UNICA estimates that 86 new industrial plants will be built by 2012, with investments reaching US$ 17 billion. Jank argues that there are three central pillars of action Brazil needs to pursue in order to solidify its global leadership in this sector: demand, competitiveness and sustainability. In this op-ed, he details what Brazil must do to successfully pursue these actions while explaining the important role renewable energy will play in Brazil–and the world’s–agroindustry.

UN: high commodity prices from biofuel demand could last a decade
Associated Press, 7/4/07

A new report warned Wednesday that high commodity prices that have been blamed on increasing demand for biofuels could last through the decade — and also result in higher livestock prices. The report said that while temporary factors such as drought and low stocks largely explain a recent hike in farm commodity prices, it will be structural changes in the entire agricultural system that will keep prices high over the next 10 years.
"Growing use of cereals, sugar, oilseeds and vegetable oils to satisfy the needs of a rapidly increasing biofuel industry is one of the main drivers in the outlook," said a joint report led by the OECD.

Mozambique to grant Brazil CVRD coal mining license
Reuters, 7/3/07

Mozambique has agreed to grant Brazilian iron ore miner CVRD a concessionary licence to develop the Moatize coal fields at a cost of $1.5 billion, Mineral Resources Minister Esperanca Bias said on Tuesday. An official ceremony to hand over the licence for the mine mine, located in the country's Tete province, is scheduled to take place on Tuesday.
The Moatize project, which has estimated reserves of 2.5 billion tonnes of coking coal, could see the investment by CVRD rise up to $2 billion, $170 million of which will be paid through the company's reserves and the rest from investment banks.

Ethanol backers look to cellulose
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 7/1/07

Corn — the every grain for every purpose — can't fill the nation's insatiable appetite for food, feed and fuel. "There's only so much corn you can grow in this country," said U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.). "We've simply got to move away from [corn] and have some alternative products, and cellulose is one of the most promising resources." Chambliss, ranking minority member on the Senate Agriculture Committee, has introduced legislation to boost fuel derived from pine trees and other "cellulosic" sources. Georgia, lo and behold, is home to 24 million forested acres. Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Energy announced $125 million in grants to boost cellulosic research.

June

One for the road
Economist, 6/21/07

A new biofuel made from fruit sugars promises more oomph than traditional ethanol. At present, the most widely used substance is ethanol, which can be made from sugar cane, sugar beet and maize (or corn, as it is called in America). But ethanol does not pack a particularly powerful punch. It is also susceptible to absorbing water, further diluting its oomph. It takes days to ferment the stuff. A biofuel that did not suffer from these limitations would be welcome. That is what a team led by James Dumesic of the University of Wisconsin-Madison claims to have developed (read their study published in Nature Magazine). The researchers think they have devised a biofuel that has a 40% higher energy density than ethanol, that repels water and that can be made relatively speedily.

Hybrid routes to biofuels
Nature Magazine, 6/21/07

Traditional methods for making fuels from biomass come in two forms — biological or chemical. The latest approach combines the best of both worlds, and heralds the advent of a second generation of biofuels. In the absence of an optimal process, there is a vigorous debate over whether the biomass conversion system should be thermochemical (using heat and metal catalysts) or biological (using enzymes and microorganisms). The fuels produced reflect the process involved: ethanol is the product of biological conversion, whereas synthetic diesel (a mixture of saturated hydrocarbons known as alkanes) is that of thermochemical methods.

Food prices soar not due to ethanol but grains’ supply also a worry
Investor’s Business Daily, 6/21/07

Food prices are on the rise thanks to the surging cost of corn. A long, hot summer could make eating even more expensive. While corn-based ethanol is getting much of the blame for boosting prices all over the grocery aisle, questions over tight grain supplies — and what they will mean for food costs — are getting louder. Rising demand for greener energy began competing in earnest with the food supply in the last year or so. That sent per-bushel corn prices soaring to around $4 a bushel from a historical average closer to $2.

ADM plans entry into sugar-cane ethanol in Brazil
Financial Times, 6/19/07

Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., the U.S.'s largest ethanol producer, is preparing to enter the sugar-cane-ethanol business in Brazil, company executives say. Such a move by the grain and ethanol giant would mark an endorsement of a gasoline substitute that competes directly with the corn-based approach used by U.S. ethanol companies. ADM is exploring a variety of strategies to enter Brazil's sugar-cane-ethanol market, ranging from building sugar-cane mills and ethanol plants from the ground up to acquiring sugar-cane companies. Rumors of an outright purchase of Cosan SA, Brazil’s largest ethanol producer have not been ruled out.

Biofuel realities impinge on early promise
Financial Times, 6/19/07

In the past few months many claims made for biofuels have been shown to be out of touch with reality. The first-generation biofuels, grain ethanol and biodiesel, are costly, often of questionable environmental merit, and cannot replace more than a fraction of world demand for oil. Brazilian ethanol from sugarcane, a cheaper and cleaner alternative, is viable domestically but held back by trade barriers. Second-generation biofuels, such as cellulosic ethanol made from plant waste, are still years from commercial production. The economics of biofuel production have been jeopardised by steep rises in the price of agricultural commodities, such as corn.

Lula’s enthusiasm attracts converts
Financial Times, 6/19/07

Lula, Brazil’s president, rarely misses an opportunity to advertise the power of his country’s ethanol industry in his bid to wield greater influence in the world. But recently a number of leaders in the Americas have begun to share his enthusiasm, arguing that co-operation between the energy-hungry north and the resource- and technology-rich south could form the basis for greater integration and healthier political relations across the hemisphere. “By serving as a catalyst for rural development [in Latin America] and a new source of trade with its hemispheric neighbours, ethanol imports will actually advance US strategic interests – something that cannot be said of oil imports from the Middle East,” says the Colombian President of the Inter-American Development Bank.

Brazil enjoys sugar power’s sweet success
Financial Times, 6/19/07

Brazil’s ethanol surge is only just beginning. Optimists speak of the country as a green Saudi Arabia, whose combination of land, climate and technology could make it the world’s biggest producer of efficient bioethanol. The country will produce about 4.6bn gallons of ethanol from the current harvest, using about half of the 16m hectares of land planted with sugar cane. The US produces 4.9bn gallons from some 78m hectares of maize but, while land in the US is scarce, Brazil has enormous scope for expansion.

The rising tide of corn
Washington Post, 6/15/07

The nation's unquenchable thirst for gasoline -- and finding an alternative to what's been called our addiction to oil -- has produced an unintended consequence: The cost of the foods that fuel our bodies has jumped. Beef prices are up. So are the costs of milk, cereal, eggs, chicken and pork. And corn is getting the blame. President Bush's call for the nation to cure its addiction to oil stoked a growing demand for ethanol, which is mostly made from corn. Greater demand for corn has inflated prices from a historically stable $2 per bushel to about $4.

Ethanol group (RFA) denies blame for food inflation
Associated Press, 6/13/07

The Renewable Fuels Association says surging oil and gas prices are driving up the cost of U.S. groceries. Consumer groups and environmentalists have blasted ethanol, made mostly from corn in the United States, for sending a shock wave through the food system as the grain is pulled away from the food crop to produce fuel. U.S. food consumer prices, as measured by the government's Consumer Price Index, have risen from a year-over-year rate of 2.5 percent in September 2006 to 3.7 percent this past April. For more related ethanol information, see two other articles: Addicted to corn? and Study: Ethanol raises food costs.

Ethanol business may face oversupply
Associated Press, 6/13/07

Thanks to that fast expansion and some distribution issues, some Wall Street and university analysts predict the ethanol boom is about to stumble on a supply glut and shrinking profit margins. Lehman Brothers analysts estimated the surplus at about 1 million gallons per day starting in the second half of 2007. The firm's report attributed part of that to the ethanol-plant construction boom but said transportation bottlenecks are a bigger problem.

Solar panels, biofuels and tidal turbines in Bloomberg plans
New York Times, 6/12/07

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced a plan yesterday to outfit municipal buildings with solar panels and to begin buying heating oil containing biofuels. This was part of his PlaNYC initiative to help New York cope in an environmentally sound way with the one million new city residents expected by 2030. He stated that by next summer, 30 percent of the city’s heating oil purchases would be required to contain 5 percent biofuel. This percentage is to grow to 10 percent by 2010 and 20 percent by 2012.

Brazil weighs ethanol project
Bloomberg, 6/10/07

The Japanese trading house Itochu and the Brazilian state oil company, Petrobras, will study a plan to build a plant that makes ethanol from sugar cane to gain from increased demand for cleaner-burning fuels. Itochu and Petrobras were scheduled to sign an accord Saturday agreeing to assess a proposal for a project in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, said Naoki Yamanaka, a spokesman for Itochu.

US, Brazil seek a central america driven by biofuels
US State Department, 6/7/07

With the help of the United States and Brazil, three Caribbean nations and one Central American country could become less dependent on oil imports by switching their economies to biofuels, according to U.S. and Brazilian officials. Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice said St. Kitts and Nevis, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador will be the initial focus of the U.S.-Brazil Biofuels Partnership’s outreach program. She added, however, that the partnership is eager to expand cooperation to more countries, particularly in the Western Hemisphere.

Brazil eyes ethanol as fast track to power
Christian Science Monitor, 6/6/07

Neat acres of cotton, corn, and soybean extend into the horizon, and even American farmers have arrived to join a boom that over the past few years has positioned Brazil to overtake the US as the world's agricultural superpower. Brazil surpassed the US as the largest exporter of soybeans. That followed its scoring the No. 1 spot in beef exports in 2004. And now, as the high price of oil and concerns over climate change spark global demand for alternative fuels, Brazil is aiming to double its production of sugarcane for ethanol in the next decade.

Brazil faces ethanol overproduction risk
Associated Press, 6/05/07

Massive investment in Brazil to ramp up ethanol production is at risk unless big potential consumers like the United States and Europe significantly reduce tariffs on imported ethanol, billionaire investor George Soros said Tuesday. Soros is investing his own money (estimated at $900 million) in Brazilian operations that turn sugarcane into the ethanol, but said he's worried about potential overproduction of the environment-friendly rival to gasoline.

Biofuels can help poor and climate: U.N. FAO
Reuters, 6/05/07

Biofuel -- "environmentally friendly" energy created from plants rather than oil -- should not be seen as a threat to the world's poor and may help increase food production, a U.N. food and energy expert said. Fears over climate change have boosted the demand for alternative fuels in Europe and North America, but the rise of biofuel has been criticized by some who say it is not really "green" and will put a squeeze on land needed for food. However, the person in charge of energy policy at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said biofuel was getting a bad press and, rather than being a threat to the poor, it could boost food production as well as wealth.

May

Alcohol should account for the largest percentage of the sugarcane harvest in 10 years
Folha de São Paulo, 5/29/07

The advances in the commercialization of alcohol in Brazil and the growing interest in biofuels abroad should make it that alcohol tallies the highest percentage of this year’s sugarcane production. In related news, between January and April this year, the number of workers employed by sugarcane plants doubled from level in 2003, reaching 44.4 thousand for alcohol processing plants and 104.6 thousand in sugar processing plants – signaling the industries commercial growth as well as the corollary impacts on labor markets.

Vietnam to sign pact with Brazil for ethanol
Reuters, 5/27/07

Vietnam said on Monday it had approved a plan with Brazil to produce ethanol fuel in Vietnam. Hanoi said in a government directive it had assigned Minister of Industry Hoang Trung Hai to sign an agreement with Brazil, the world's top ethanol exporter, to share ethanol fuel technologies.

Oil industry says biofuel push may hurt at pump
New York Times, 5/24/07

Some oil executives are now warning that the current shortages of fuel could become a long-term problem, leading to stubbornly higher prices at the pump. They point to a surprising culprit: uncertainty created by the government’s push to increase the supply of biofuels like ethanol in coming years. Congress is considering legislation calling for a nearly fivefold increase in the use of ethanol. That has forced many oil companies to reconsider or scale back their plans for constructing new refinery capacity.

The Brazil and United States partnership for cellulosic ethanol
O Estado de S.Paulo, 5/23/07 (in Portuguese)

Research on how to produce cellulosic ethanol is at the center of the Brazilian-U.S. partnernship for alternative fuels. The development of cellulosic ethanol is essential for the U.S. ethanol industry, which is running of out land to grow more corn, and for the Brazilian ethanol industry, which could increase its productivity by 40 to 100 percent if plant bagasse was also used. A partnership on research and development with the United States is particularly useful for Brazil, as U.S. resources for cellulosic ethanol research are plentiful.

Ethanol still lacks international credibility
Gazeta Mercantil , 5/23/07

Tariff barriers aren’t the only obstacles preventing Brazilian ethanol from expanding into the global market. According to specialists in the sugar/alcohol sector, alcohol’s principal enemy is itself. “Brazilian ethanol lacks a quality standard that can earn [international] credibility,” because as of yet, there is no accepted international standard. Like petroleum, a rigorous composition standard must be established to guarantee the quality, homogeneity, stability and chemical composition of ethanol.

A return to the land, for fuel
New York Times, 5/19/07

Perhaps the most notable effort is Hawaii BioEnergy, an international consortium that includes two other local landowners, Tarpon Investimentos, an investment company in Bermuda, and Brasil Bioenergia, an energy company in São Paulo. The consortium, which also involves the co-founder of America Online, Stephen M. Case, and the venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, took form last July with the goal to make Hawaii, which has long had to pay high prices for imported fuel, largely energy-independent.

Government studies new rules for ethanol
O Estado de S.Paulo, 5/18/07

The growing demand for ethanol and rising fears that increased sugarcane production may replace land previously utilized for food production has led the Brazilian government to adopt new regulatory measures for the industry. Chief among the measures considered are policies to curb a potential sugarcane monoculture, guaranteeing a minimum income for individual producers who do not own processing plants and the creation of a single government organization responsible for carrying out these measures and overseeing the industry. The government also wants to force ethanol companies to adopt a broader “social” vision that includes workers throughout the process.

Brazil in the energy vs. fuel debate
O Estado de S.Paulo, 5/16/07 (in Portuguese) *Commentary*

Marcos Jank, president of ICONE, discusses the most controversial topic debated at last week’s World Forum on Agriculture: energy versus fuel dilemma. Jank explains that the surge for biofuels is mainly driven by consumer demand (based on environmental concerns) and governments (energy security and environmental concerns). He contrasts ethanol production in Brazil, which is derived from sugarcane, with that of the US (corn) and EU (beets). Jank claims that since sugarcane is not an important input for animal feed like corn is in the US and wheat, corn and other biodiesel sources are in the EU, Brazil’s ethanol production does not strain food supplies. He also considers other factors like greater land availability, water usage, climate and higher energy yields of Brazilian sugarcane-based ethanol production as important distinguishing features.

Brazil’s Dedini unlocks ethanol advance
CNN, 5/14/07

A Brazilian company said on Monday it has come up with a way to produce ethanol on an industrial scale from plant waste, a development that could revolutionize the industry by boosting fuel output without depleting supplies of food staples such as corn or sugar. Brazil's Dedini, the leading manufacturer of sugar and biofuel equipment, said it has developed an economically viable ethanol production technology based on cellulose.

Petrobras exports ethanol to U.S.
O Estado de S.Paulo, 5/15/07

In its first direct negotiation, Petrobras sells 12 million liters of ethanol to the U.S. last week. It has also begun researching a possible installation of fuel storage tanks in the U.S. Although 12 million liters is considered a small amount, the company projects significant export growth to the U.S. within the next few years. Brazilian total ethanol exports to the U.S. reached 1 billion liters last year. The company also plans on sending over 20 million liters of ethanol to Nigeria, the same amount it exported last year

Brazil’s ethanol: big potential
Latin Business Chronicle, 5/14/07

High energy prices and environmental concerns will benefit the bio-fuel industry in Brazil for many years to come. Billions of dollars have been invested in research and development for bio-fuels, and none have received as much attention as ethanol. The country currently produces 17 billion liters of ethanol, but is making plans to increase production to 40 billion liters over the next five years without affecting the environment or the existing food supply. In 2006, Brazil harvested 6.2 million hectares of sugarcane, yielding 74.05 tons per hectare for a total of 457 million tons.

With US ethanol boom, corn is king this season
Christian Science Monitor, 5/11/07

With corn prices soaring due to the demand for ethanol, the US is looking at what may be its largest corn planting since World War II, according to US Department of Agriculture statistics. Some 90.5 million acres are expected to be planted – 15 percent more than in 2006. If farmers get the yields they'd like – always a weather-dependent proposition, and one that may be tough this year with the planting delayed in many states because of a cold, rainy spring – it could be a banner year for many corn growers.

Merger’s among ethanol plants expected
Reuters, 5/10/07

As U.S. ethanol plants see profit margins shrink from rising corn prices, the highly fragmented industry will likely see a wave of mergers and consolidation, said speakers at a conference on ethanol financing in Chicago on Thursday. Just a year ago, ethanol plants were making so much money that some were able to pay off their debt in little more than a year of operation. As a result, returns on capital have fallen to 13 percent from 73 percent a year ago, said Eitan Bernstein, equity analyst at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co.

Ethanol makers face high corn prices
Associated Press, 5/9/07

Surging corn costs have been a drag on ethanol producers' earnings so far this year, leaving at least one top producer with a quarterly loss. So when does corn become so costly that making ethanol becomes unprofitable? Ethanol producers in the U.S. make the alternative fuel largely from corn and therefore are sensitive to that commodity's price volatility. Demand on the nation's corn crop for food and fuel has recently sent prices high enough to rattle these companies' earnings power.

Ethanol makers look to grass, citrus, even trash
Associated Press, 5/8/07

Corn is the seasoned veteran of the ethanol industry, but promising prospects including wood chips and prairie grass - including switchgrass, made famous by President George W. Bush - could soon be in the alternative energy lineup.While corn gets the headlines, companies are exploring a host of other potential fuel sources, like sorghum stubble, citrus peel, timber scraps and even landfill trash. Experts say it will be years before companies decide if those sources can be commercially viable, but the research is well under way. And some refinery production could be as little as two years away.

Brazil's balancing act
The Guardian, 5/7/07

Lately, Lula has been working to reassert Brazil's place as the regional leader of Latin America by setting out a "third way" vision of a strong, integrated Latin America to challenge Venezuela's cartoon socialism and anti-Americanisn. His ethanol-powered moderation is a healthy counterbalance to the ideological idiocy and energy diplomacy emanating out of Caracas. He has won the biofuel face-off between Chávez, forcing Caracas to revise his earlier statement and claim that he only meant to attack America's corn-based biofuel industry.

Brazil shows the world the way on ethanol
Associated Press, 5/3/07

Brazil has boosted its ethanol production 40 percent over the last five years, from 3 billion gallons in 2002 to 4.2 billion gallons last year. During the same period, U.S. production rose 75 percent, from 2.8 billion gallons to 4.9 billion gallons, almost all of which went to the domestic U.S. market. Brazil and Latin American nations have big advantages over the United States: Ample agricultural land and warm climates conducive to massive sugarcane plantations, with distilleries on site to process cane into fuel 24 hours after harvest. Check the IHT’s brief on Brazil’s ethanol boom.

April

Ethanol may cause more smog, more deaths, study says
Associated Press, 4/18/07

Switching from gasoline to ethanol -- touted as a green alternative at the pump -- may create dirtier air, causing slightly more smog-related deaths, says a new study (published in the peer reviewed journal Environmental Science and Technology). The author of the study, Mark Jacobson, a Stanford University civil and environmental engineering professor, bases his findings on a computer model that assumes all vehicles in the U.S. would be running on a mostly ethanol fuel blend by 2020. Other environmentalists, like Roland Hwang of the National Resources Defense Council, find Jacobson’s conclusion to be “a provocative concept that is not workable.” Hwang questions the studies assumptions, such as an entire switch to ethanol by 2020. He also criticizes the study for ignoring the benefits of ethanol that reduce greenhouse gases and lessen the impact of fuel consumption on global warming, which contribute to decreases in smog and smog-related deaths. Follow link to view a review of Jacobson’s study

Brazil defends ethanol deal at summit
Associated Press, 4/17/07

Brazil is defending its ethanol agreement with the United States, despite efforts by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to undermine the deal using his country's vast reserves of oil and natural gas. Chavez did not publicly discuss his dispute over ethanol with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the start of a two-day energy summit Monday, but the Venezuelan leader has pledged to explain his objections to last month's U.S.-Brazil ethanol agreement. Link to Financial Times article on the issue and the BBC report .

Overtures to Brazil show differing ethanol interests
Wall Street Journal, 4/17/07

Last month, President Bush flew to this sprawling city to sign a largely symbolic agreement with Brazil to promote the production and use of ethanol. The same night, a group of Japanese executives flew home from here with the framework for a major ethanol deal in hand. The events that day highlight the different approaches industrialized countries like the U.S. and Japan are taking to the renewable fuel at a time of increasing concern about the future of oil supplies.

Jeb Bush part of global trio touting ethanol
Miami Herald, 4/7/07

What do a former Florida governor, the powerful head of a hemispheric development bank and a former Brazilian agriculture minister have in common? Biofuels. Jeb Bush, Inter American Development Bank chief Luis Alberto Moreno and Roberto Rodrigues, Brazil's agriculture minister until 2006, have teamed up to form the Interamerican Ethanol Commission , a venture they hope will not only make Latin American farmers richer but unite countries around a feel-good theme.

IDB to invest US$225 million in ethanol projects
O Estado de S.Paulo, 4/4/07 (em português)

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will finance US$225 million for three ethanol production projects in Brazil. Part of the money will fund the construction of an ethanol plant in the state of Minas Gerais and to restructure the debts of the Usina Moema Açucar e Álcool in São Paulo. The IDB has also created a “green financing” project, which will offer up to US$300 million in investments.

Ethanol may cause more smog, more deaths, study says
Associated Press, 4/19/07

Brazil's and Colombia's risk spreads hit record-tight levels for the second straight session on Thursday as expectations of debt buybacks and credit rating upgrades added to investors' strong appetite for emerging markets assets. Brazil's risk spreads at 149 basis points pierced the 150 basis points level for the first time on bets that the central bank may accelerate the pace of interest rate cuts in coming months, further boosting prospects for the economy. Brazil's central bank on Wednesday cut its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 12.5 percent, as expected, but the decision was not unanimous - three out of the seven voting members wanted a half-percentage-point cut.

Chávez seeks to defuse Brazil rift on ethanol
Financial Times, 4/18/07

Hugo Chávez, Venezuela's president, on Tuesday sought to patch up relations with Brazil following tensions generated by his criticisms of a US-Brazil ethanol pact agreed last month. Mr Chávez, hosting a South American energy summit, said he objected only to the US method of making ethanol with corn. Brazil uses sugar cane to produce the alternative fuel. "We are not against biofuels. Instead, we want to import ethanol from Brazil, and without tariffs," the Venezuelan leader said.

Brazil electric energy rationing risk very real
Dow Jones, 4/12/07

The risk that Brazil will need to institute electric energy rationing in 2010 and 2011 is much higher than government officials admit, said a local private study published Thursday. Acende Brasil, a local power industry-sponsored institute, calculated the risk that Brazil will be forced to ration energy at between 8% and 23.5% for 2010 and between 14% and 30% for 2011.

Biofuel pioneers cover 21,000 miles
Financial Times, 4/6/07

In a fire engine fuelled by Chilean chip fat, Mexican lard and Colombian palm oil, Seth Warren and Tyler Bradt have completed the longest journey made without diesel or petrol. Rising oil prices, declining fossil fuel reserves and concerns about environmental damage have been raising the profile of biofuels. Biodiesel – which is made from vegetable oil and can be mixed with, or replace, diesel – and ethanol, which is made chiefly from sugar cane and corn, can be used in petrol vehicles.

The consequences of corn
New York Times Editorial, 4/5/07 (In English) *Commentary*

By now most farmers know what they’ll be planting this spring. And all across the country the answer is the same: corn, corn, corn. The editorial after deliberating the potential ramifications of an increase in corn production,concludes: Much as we like the idea of ethanol production — and especially the potential of cellulosic ethanol, from sources other than corn — it would be a tragic mistake to jettison two decades of farm-based conservation for short-term profit. Corn ethanol will replace only a small fraction of the petroleum we use, and if it does so at the cost of a new agricultural land rush, then we will have lost much more in conservation than we gained in energy independence.

How biofuels could starve the poor
Foreign Affairs Journal, May/June Issue (In English) *Commentary*
Professor C. Ford Runge and Professor Benjamin Senauer, University of Minnesota

Thanks to high oil prices and hefty subsidies, corn-based ethanol is now all the rage in the United States. But it takes so much supply to keep ethanol production going that the price of corn -- and those of other food staples -- is shooting up around the world. To stop this trend, and prevent even more people from going hungry, Washington must conserve more and diversify ethanol's production inputs.

Brazil, Ecuador sign fuel agreements
Associated Press, 4/5/07

The presidents of Brazil and Ecuador signed agreements for the two countries to jointly produce biofuels and explore for oil in Ecuador. "We will give Ecuador's biofuel program our full support," said Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who hosted his Ecuadorean counterpart Rafael Correa on Wednesday in the capital of Brasilia. "Our two nations are determined to carry out this revolution of clean and renewable energy that generates jobs and preserves the environment," Silva added.

Silva, Bush to talk trade, ethanol
Associated Press, 3/31/07

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hopes to advance a biofuels alliance and stalled world trade talks when he meets President Bush in Washington on Saturday - the leaders' second meeting in less than a month. Read the transcript of their meeting and their joint statement . Follow links for two State Department statement on March 31 and April 1 .

Our biofuels partnership
Washington Post, 3/30/07 *Commentary*

On the eve of his visit to Camp David, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva writes on the U.S.-Brazilian ethanol partnership, dispels myths about the growth of Brazil's ethanol industry, and challenges U.S. subsidies that crowd out Brazilian imports. Ethanol will only become a globally marketed commodity if the trade is not hindered by protectionist policies, he argued.

Ethanol's growing list of enemies
Business Week, 3/30/07

The ethanol movement is sprouting a vocal crop of critics. While politicians including President George W. Bush and farmers across the Midwest hope that the U.S. can win its energy independence by turning corn into fuel, Hitch and an unlikely assortment of allies are raising their voices in opposition. The effort is uniting ranchers and environmentalists, hog farmers and hippies, solar-power idealists and free-market pragmatists. They have different reasons for opposing ethanol. But their common contentions are that the focus on corn-based ethanol has been too hasty, and the government's active involvement — through subsidies for ethanol refiners and high tariffs to keep out alternatives like ethanol made from sugar — is likely to lead to chaos in other sectors of the economy.

Huge corn sowings chase ethanol price
Reuters, 3/30/07

U.S. farmers plan to cash in on the fuel ethanol boom by planting the largest area to corn in 63 years, potentially yielding a record crop and calming fears that renewable fuels will steal grain needed for food and feed, the federal government said on Friday. Yet even with record output, this year's corn crop could sell for a record $3.50-$3.60 a bushel at the farm gate, market watchers said.

Energy derived from sugarcane almost equal to hydroelectric in volume
Diário da Manha, 3/30/07 (em português)

According to the data release by the Energy Research Firm (EPE), ethanol production in 2006 reached 17.8 billion liters, an increase of 10.8% from 2005. Comparing both renewable and non-renewable sources of energy, products derived from sugarcane almost totaled the volume of hydroelectric energy, accounting for 14.4 % of Brazil’s total energy matrix. Derivates of sugarcane accounts for 70-80 % of all the biomass energy produced for the country.

Senator proposes bill to study effects, removal of ethanol tariff
Platts Commodity News, 3/29/07

The highest ranking Republican on the US Senate's Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday introduced a bill that would look at the effect of the 54 cents/gal tariff on non-Caribbean Basin ethanol imports into the US and what would happen if the levy was repealed or modified. The legislation also seeks to establish cooperation between the US and Brazil for energy security in the Western Hemisphere, biofuels production, cellulosic ethanol research, and infrastructure improvements. To view the full text of the bill, follow this link .

Lula to exchange social rhetoric for trade agenda
Estado de S.Paulo, 3/28/07 (em português)

President Lula plans to transition his external political agenda during his second mandate. After exploring the rhetoric of global poverty, hunger and the union of development forces throughout the past four years, Lula has begun 2007 with concrete intentions to end the Doha round impasse, create a global market for biofuels, integrate Latin America and reform the UN to reflect the geopolitical reality of the 21st century.

Senators look to boost biofuel use five-fold
Reuters, 3/28/07

Top lawmakers on the U.S. Senate Energy Committee on Tuesday unveiled legislation to boost U.S. biofuels use more than five-fold by 2022, about five years later than the target set by the Bush administration. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, the panel's chairman, and Sen. Pete Domenici, its top Republican, want to require 36 billion gallons (136 billion liters) of renewable fuels by 2022 -- about 21 percent of projected U.S. gasoline demand.

The dirty secret about clean cars
Business Week, 3/28/07

There's a dirty secret about clean cars. The policies for flexible-fuel vehicles—those that can run on mixtures of gasoline and more than 10% ethanol—are written in such a way that they result in a number of unintended consequences. One result is that automakers gain some leeway in meeting fuel-economy standards if they produce flexible-fuel cars and trucks. Automakers need to meet certain government standards for the fuel economy of their fleets. For flex-fuel cars, fuel economy is calculated based on the assumption that their owners use 50% gasoline and 50% ethanol. But the reality is that just 1% of the nation's flexible-fuel vehicles actually use what's known as E85—85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. The remaining 99% are using good old-fashioned gasoline.

Eni, Petrobras sign accord on biofuels
Associated Press, 3/27/07

Italian energy company Eni and Brazil's Petrobras signed an accord Tuesday to study strategic alliances in the production of biofuels and petroleum refining, Eni said. The agreement was signed in Brazil, where Italian Premier Romano Prodi was on a two-day visit focused on opportunities in the energy sector. Eni said the two companies will put together their technologies for the production of biodiesel and bio-ethanol to develop joint projects for the production of biofuels in other countries.

Ethanol and biodiesel earns spot of Prodi’s agenda in Brazil
O Estado de S. Paulo, 3/26/07 (em português)

Brazil intends on signing trade agreements with Italy in the areas of medicine, ethanol and biodiesel. The information was divulged by President Lula during his weekly radio show, as he discussed the Italian Prime Minister, Romano Prodi’s, upcoming visit. According to the president, “the fact that Italy wants to establish a strategic partnership with Brazil is extraordinarily important to Brazil … I believe we will gain much from this relationship.”

Corn can’t solve our problem
Washington Post, 3/25/07 *Commentary*

The world has come full circle. A century ago our first transportation biofuels -- the hay and oats fed to our horses -- were replaced by gasoline. Today, ethanol from corn and biodiesel from soybeans have begun edging out gasoline and diesel. Some biofuels, if properly produced, do have the potential to provide climate-friendly energy, but where and how can we grow them?

Lula says he wants Brazil to become the Saudi Arabia of biofuels
Estado de S. Paulo, 3/24/07 (em português)

“I think that biodiesel could also benefit the poorest countries in the world, from Central and Latin America to Africa. Imagine Italy financing a project of this type in an African country, then, later, consuming the produced fuel, generating new jobs and (more) income, and in turn, improving the quality of life,” said Lula in an interview with the Italian magazine, Panorama.

Surging corn prices tighten ethanol financing
Reuters, 3/21/07

Financing for ethanol plants has tightened as rising corn prices have made it tougher for producers to turn a profit and an industry shake-out could follow, according to sector bankers and executives. The price of corn, the main ingredient of U.S. ethanol, has risen to $4 per bushel, making it more difficult for ethanol plants to turn a profit. At the same time, oil prices have fallen since peaking at more than $78 a barrel last summer, cutting into demand for a lower priced alternative.

Brazil President slammed for ethanol remarks
Business Week, 3/21/07

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva came under withering criticism from advocates for Brazil's poor Wednesday after he said the country's well-off ethanol producers have become "national and world heroes." Activists and social groups said it was an "aberration" for the country's first working class leader to heap praise on the same ethanol producers he criticized before winning the presidency in 2002.

From Russia, with cash
Wall Street Journal – Energy blog, 3/19/07

Will notorious Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky (left) become the world’s latest billionaire (following in the footsteps of George Soros and Sun Microsystems founder Vinod Khosla) to pump money into Brazil’s white-hot ethanol industry? The former oligarch recently chatted with a Brazilian official about possibly infusing a cool $2 billion into the country’s ethanol and port sector. Berezovsky, an outspoken Kremlin critic living in London, may sense a chance to profit from Brazil’s renewable-energy sector. But he may be even keener for a potential side perk: Political amnesty from Brazil.

Treasury secretary lauds biofuel push
Associated Press, 3/19/07

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Monday applauded the Inter-American Development Bank's backing of alternative fuels and expressed support for China's request to join the financial institution. Paulson's visit comes on the heels of President Bush's recent swing through Latin America to improve relations, promote trade and push for the region to seize the opportunities of the booming biofuel industry.

Ethanol company starts Brazil operations
Business Week, 3/16/07

A new ethanol company with prominent foreign investors took a big step Friday toward starting operations in Brazil, announcing the private placement of US$200 million (US$151 million) in common shares. Brazilian Renewable Energy Company Ltd.'s founding shareholders include venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, American supermarket magnate Ron Burkle, America Online founder Steve Case, former World Bank President James Wolfensohn and film producer Steven Bing, the company said in a statement.

Brazil cellulose ethanol output may start in 2012, Dedini says
Bloomberg, 3/15/07

Brazil, the world's biggest maker of ethanol from sugarcane juice, may begin commercial production of the fuel from the tropical plant's cellulose as soon as 2012, an executive at Dedini SA said. Dedini, the world's largest builder of mills to process sugarcane, is already producing the biofuel in small amounts from the fibrous waste that is left over when the cane juice is extracted, said Operations Vice President Jose Luiz Oliverio. Dedini is making the cellulose ethanol at the same cost as biofuel from sugarcane juice, he said.

Brazil, Indonesia sign ethanol agreement
Associated Press, 3/15/07

Brazil and Indonesia Thursday signed a biofuels agreement that will open the way for the Asian nation to start producing ethanol, Brazil's Agriculture Ministry said. The agreement for Brazil to provide Indonesia with technical help to produce ethanol from sugarcane was signed in Jakarta by Indonesian Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono and his Brazilian counterpart, Luis Carlos Guedes, a ministry statement said. Indonesia is trying to reduce dependency on oil while revitalizing its agricultural sector.

Ethanol is not a threat to the Amazon, says Lula
Estado de S. Paulo, 3/13/07 (em português)

The president affirms that the government will only invest in area where there is no native forest. For the first time, President Lula has promised to not provide incentives for the production of biofuels in the Amazon Rainforest and the Pantanal ecosystem. In an interview broadcast yesterday during his weekly radio program, Coffee with the President, Lula assured that the government will only promote sugar cane plantations in areas already utilized for agricultural purposes.

Country may return to the ‘monoculture of sugar cane’, says expert
Estado de S.Paulo, 3/12/07 (em português)

Convened for a symposium in Rio, technical experts warn that a significant increase in plantations will have environmental impacts. Contrary to the euphoria of producers and the government with prospects for record production and growth in the export of ethanol, researchers assembled at the 1st Brazilian Symposium on Climate Change, held yesterday, see the expansion of sugar cane plantations with caution, because of the long-term environmental implications. The physicist, Luiz Pinguelly Rosa, ex-president of Electrobras, alerted the potential risk Brazil runs of returning to a ‘monoculture of sugar cane’. (A reference to Brazil’s colonial legacy as a primary sugar exporter)

President Bush participates in a joint press availability with President Lula
White House press release, 3/9/07

Lula: This second visit by President Bush to Brazil in little more than one year is another step in intensifying dialogue between our governments and our countries. This is a dialogue which began even before I took office, when President Bush received me in a visit in December 2002, at the White House. During the frequent meetings and phone calls we have had since then, our relations have always been characterized by extreme frankness, mutual respect, and a constructive spirit. Our societies are multiethnic. Many cultures and ideas live together within them. They were founded on the principles of pluralism, tolerance, and respect for diversity.

President Bush and President Lula discuss biofuel technology
White House press release, 3/9/07

Lula: It's a pleasure to receive President George Bush in São Paulo, our largest city in Brazil, a city which symbolizes the richness of our economy and entrepreneurship of our people. We've come to Transpetro Terminal here in Guarulhos, to celebrate an important partnership which is really important between the United States and Brazil.

Watch the Associated Press video of the conference.

Brazil plans to triple ethanol exports in 7 years
Bloomberg, 3/14/07

Brazil plans to almost triple ethanol exports in the next seven years and will need investments of about $13.4 billion to boost output, said the nation's Agriculture Minister Luis Carlos Guedes Pinto. Brazil plans to more than double production of ethanol to 35 billion liters, Guedes said via a translator in an interview with Bloomberg News in Tokyo. Exports may account for as much as 10 billion liters, he said.

U.S., Brazil team up to promote ethanol
Washington Post, 3/10/07

President Bush announced a new energy partnership with Brazil on Friday to promote wider production of ethanol throughout the region as an alternative to oil, the first step in an effort to strengthen economic and political alliances in Latin America. The new alliance could serve not only to help meet Bush's promise to reduce U.S. gasoline consumption but also to diminish the influence of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the fiery leftist who has used his country's vast oil reserves to build support among neighbors.

Biofuels pact likely to hit hurdles
Wall Street Journal, 3/10/07

President Bush and his Brazilian counterpart unveiled a new biofuels partnership between their two countries with much fanfare, but the reality appeared to fall short of the rhetoric. At a huge ethanol storage facility on the outskirts of São Paulo Friday, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva described the agreement as "a new moment for the global car industry, a new moment for fuel...and possibly a new moment for humanity."

Bush and Lula sign green fuel deal
Financial Times, 3/9/07

Presidents George W. Bush of the US and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil on Friday signed a green fuels agreement that promises co-operation on technology and development but fails to address the central issue of access to the US market for Brazilian producers. Mr Bush was in São Paulo on the first stage of a five-nation tour of Latin America. The initiative is one of a number designed to restore US credibility in a region increasingly under the sway of “21st century socialism”, led by Hugo Chávez, president of Venezuela.

Bush hails international ethanol production
Washington Post, 3/9/07

President Bush sealed a deal with Brazil on Friday morning intended to promote international production of ethanol, opening a six-day tour of Latin America dedicated to renewing U.S. commitment to a region that has become estranged from Washington in recent years. Shucking jacket and tie for a hardhat, Bush toured a massive fuel depot to highlight Brazil's success in developing ethanol into a vital source of energy.

Bush arrives in Brazil amid protests
Associated Press, 3/9/07

President Bush opened a weeklong tour of Latin America on Thursday as police clashed with protesters in Brazil and across the region. Bush arrived in South America's largest city in the evening on a mission intended to promote democracy, increased trade and cooperation on alternative fuels. The president and his advisers also hoped his visit would offset the growing influence of leftist leaders, such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. Police battled with students, environmentalists and left-leaning Brazilians, some waving communist flags, ahead of Bush's visit.

Clashes mar Bush’s Latin America tour
Reuters, 3/9/07

Police fired tear gas and clubbed demonstrators in Brazil's largest city on Thursday as thousands protested against a visit by President Bush aimed at winning friends in Latin America. The incidents marred an otherwise peaceful march in which protesters called Bush, who arrived late on Thursday on the first leg of a five-nation regional tour, a warmonger and planet polluter.

Visit by Bush fires up Latins’ debate over socialism
New York Times, 3/9/07

President Bush has portrayed his trip to Latin America this week as a “We Care” tour aimed at dispelling perceptions that he has neglected his southern neighbors. The smattering of protests and the placement of military vehicles around the city, South America’s largest, also present an alternate interpretation of his visit: as a clash between the open capitalism that Mr. Bush espouses and the socialist approach pushed by leftist leaders who have grown in power and popularity.

Ethanol may not ease global warming: U.N.
Reuters, 3/6/07

It's too soon to say whether ethanol will help slow global warming, the head of the United Nations Environment Program said on Monday, ahead of a meeting by the world's two biggest ethanol producers to discuss building a world market in the biofuel. "We're (seeing) the expansion of ethanol production in many parts of the world, and we're in the early stages of understanding the implications of that development," said UNEP director Achim Steiner after meeting with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Lula affirms that U.S. ethanol tariffs on imports “makes no sense”
O Estado de S.Paulo , 3/5/07 (em português)

On the eve of President George W. Bush’s visit to Brazil, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva declared that the U.S. ethanol import tariff “makes no sense” and that this will one of the issues discussed during the presidential meeting. “If we are to have free trade, we will have free trade so we have the opportunity to buy and sell. The high taxes the U.S. imposes on Brazilian ethanol makes no sense,” said Lula during his weekly radio program. Last week the ethanol producing sector pressured Lula to propose an end to the tariff during the presidential meeting.

Silva raps U.S. tariff on Brazil ethanol
Associated Press, 3/5/07

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday that a U.S. tariff on Brazilian ethanol does not make sense and that he will complain about it to U.S. President George W. Bush when the American leader visits Brazil later this week. Silva also said he does not think it's appropriate for him to talk with Bush about the socialist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

U.N. official discusses Brazil biofuel
Associated Press, 3/5/07

A proposed ethanol alliance that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is expected to forge with President Bush later this week poses both opportunities and risks for the environment, a top U.N. environmental official said Monday. Achim Steiner, executive director of the U.N. Environment Program, said growing international demands for ethanol and other biofuels can threaten the Amazon rain forest if safeguards are not put in place because the world's largest remaining tropical wilderness is a target area for agriculture.

Bush and biofuels in Brazil
Financial Times, 3/5/07

The idea is a good one. Together Brazil and the US produce 70 per cent of the world’s ethanol. Promoting the fuel’s use would reduce dependency on expensive imported oil. A viable green fuel industry would create jobs and alleviate poverty. And because ethanol is a cleaner fuel (produced from corn in the US, sugar in Brazil), it would bring environmental benefits. The disappointing thing, though, is that the plan looks relatively modest, with the US directing only a few million dollars of spending to the initiative.

Bush seeks “Ethanol OPEC” with Brazil
Business Week, 3/4/07

Just an hour's drive outside this traffic-choked metropolis where President Bush kicks off a Latin American tour Thursday, sugar cane fields stretch for hundreds of miles, providing the ethanol that fuels eight out of every 10 new Brazilian cars. In only a few years, Brazil has turned itself into the planet's undisputed renewable energy leader, and the highlight of Bush's visit is expected to be a new ethanol "alliance" he will forge with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

U.S. and Brazil seek to promote ethanol in the West
New York Times, 3/3/07

President Bush, hoping to reduce demand for oil in the Western Hemisphere, is preparing to finish an agreement with Brazil next week to promote the production and use of ethanol throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, according to administration officials. The agreement could lead to substantial growth in the ethanol industry in Brazil as technology and manufacturing equipment developed there is exported to other countries in the region.

U.S., Brazil launch biofuels forum to develop global standards
USA Today, 3/3/07

The world's two top ethanol producers — the U.S. and Brazil — have announced creation of an international forum to help expand the global market for biofuels, just days before the two countries are expected to sign a separate agreement promoting ethanol across the Western Hemisphere. The International Biofuel Forum will meet regularly for a year to draft global standards for biofuel production, find ways to open markets and encourage investment in countries with the potential to develop the industry, officials said Friday.

Paper details Brazil-Japan ethanol deal
Associated Press - Business, 3/3/07

A partnership to help supply Brazilian ethanol to the Japanese market could cost $8 billion, Brazil's largest newspaper reported Saturday. The money would be used to buy minority stakes in 40 ethanol distilleries across Brazil, ensuring Japan a stable supply as it prepares to mandate an obligatory mix of ethanol in gasoline, the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper said.

Fuel for friendship
The Economist, 3/1/07

AS A pilot and the owner of an air-taxi service in Brazil's grain belt, Joel Rosado spends a lot of time thinking about fuel. So when the price of oil began rising a few years back, he ordered a new cropduster designed to run on ethanol instead of petrol. He found that the fuel bill for the new plane was a third that of each of his other nine, and so has decided to convert those to run on ethanol too. Brazilian drivers learned a similar lesson long ago: 77% of new cars can run on ethanol, which accounts for half of all transport fuel consumed in the country.

February

Latin America – the ‘Persian Gulf’ of biofuels?
Washington Post, 2/23/07

Today there is a lot of excitement among current and former U.S. and Latin American officials, regional think tanks and multilateral institutions over this thesis: The U.S. pursuit of oil alternatives may lead to unprecedented levels of cooperation in the Western Hemisphere, bringing with it the strategic, social and environmental benefits long promised by trade integration advocates.

Environment and Science

September

Norway pledges up to US$1B for Amazon preservation
Associated Press, 09/16/2008

Norway will give Brazil US$1 billion by 2015 to preserve the Amazon rain forest, as long as Latin America's largest nation keeps trying to stop deforestation, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday.
The promised donation is the first to a new Amazon preservation fund Brazilian officials hope will raise US$21 billion to protect nature reserves, to persuade loggers and farmers to stop destroying trees and to finance scientific and technological projects.

August

Paying for the forest
The Economist, 08/07/2008

It is an unusual prospectus for a new fund. Left-wing government (formerly hostile to private enterprise) seeks investment from governments or individuals to be managed by the national development bank. Returns will beat the market in terms of virtue only, though investors may lay claim to a part in the salvation of the planet. Norway, the most considerate of global citizens, has already pledged $100m. Others may follow. The Amazon Fund, launched on July 31st by Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, leans on an idea that has become accepted wisdom among conservationists: to stop the Amazon rainforest from shrinking, a way must be found to make preserving it more lucrative than slashing and burning it.

Brazil’s courts, military question Amazon policy
Associated Press, 08/04/2008

Deep in the northernmost reaches of the Amazon jungle, a land conflict between rice farmers and a handful of Indian tribes has turned so violent that the country's Supreme Court warns it could escalate into civil war. The court is expected to decide in August if the government can keep evicting rice farmers from a 4.2 million acre Indian reservation decreed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2005. The evictions were stopped in April when rice farmers started burning bridges and blockading roads, and justices said they feared a "veritable civil war." Top military generals warn that too much land in Indian hands, especially along Brazil's borders, threatens national security and could lead to tribes unilaterally declaring themselves independent nations.

July

Brazil national parks mismanaged and raided: govt
Reuters, 07/08/2008

Brazil's nature reserves, which harbor much of the world's biodiversity, are grossly mismanaged, underfunded, and often ransacked by intruders, the environment minister said on Tuesday. Of 299 protected areas, 57 percent have no permanent law enforcement officials, 76 percent have no management plan, and nearly one-third have no manager, an internal study showed.

Brazil environment minister fines cane mills
Reuters UK, 07/01/2008

Brazil's new environment minister, Carlos Minc, called all sugar cane mills in the northeastern state of Pernambuco an environmental "disaster of disasters" and fined them 120 million reais ($75 million). In a crackdown called Old Green Mill conducted jointly with the environmental protection agency Ibama, Minc said on Tuesday on the official government news service Agencia Brasil that all 24 mills in the state had committed a series of crimes. Since he took over as minister after conservationist icon Marina Silva stepped down several weeks ago, Minc has targeted Brazil's powerful farmers, ranchers and miners, who are riding a global commodity boom, and blamed them for fueling deforestation.

June

Brazil seizes livestock to protect rain forest
The New York Times, 06/25/2008

In an unprecedented move against rogue cattle ranchers in the Amazon, the Brazilian government has seized livestock grazing there illegally, the new environment minister announced Tuesday. Officials carted off 3,100 head of cattle that they said were being raised on an ecological reserve in the state of Para, in an operation intended to serve as a warning to other ranchers grazing an estimated 60,000 head on illegally deforested land in Amazonia, the environment minister, Carlos Minc, said.

Welcome to our shrinking jungle
The Economist, 06/05/2008

Brazil and the Amazon: A political storm over environmental policy has coincided with a rise in deforestation.

May

Brazil environment chief sworn in
BBC News, 05/27/2008

Brazil's new environment minister has being sworn in amid concern among environmentalists over whether he will be able to curb Amazon deforestation.

Brazil’s Lula hits out at Amazon critics
Reuters UK, 05/27/2008

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hit out at foreign critics of his stewardship of the environment on Monday, saying the world needed to understand that the Amazon belonged to Brazilians.

Brazil rainforest analysis sets off political debate
The New York Times, 05/25/2008

Gilberto Câmara, a scientist who leads Brazil’s national space agency, is more at ease poring over satellite data of the Amazon than being thrust into the spotlight. But since January, Dr. Câmara has been at the center of a political tug-of-war between scientists and Brazil’s powerful business interests. It started when he and his fellow engineers released a report showing that deforestation of Brazil’s portion of the rainforest seemed to have shot up again after two years of decline.

Critics slam loss of Brazil’s environmental chief
Christian Science Monitor, 05/22/2008

The reactions of the business community and the green lobby to the resignation of Brazil’s environment minister last week illustrated just what she meant to Brazil.
Business leaders, particularly from agricultural states, celebrated Marina Silva’s departure and called it a victory for development. Environmentalists, meanwhile, say Silva’s resignation exposed as a sham President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s supposed attempts to protect the Amazon. Without her, the environment will suffer, green activists say.

Brazil’s building spree in Amazon draws protests
The Associated Press, 05/22/2008

Flush with cash from its roaring economy, Brazil is spending $296 billion in the next two years alone on huge hydroelectric dams, transcontinental roads and other infrastructure to expand industry, boost exports, create jobs and help speed the emergence of Latin America's largest country as a world economic power. But at a time when the world is focused on climate change and Amazon rain forest destruction, Brazil's boom means paving, flooding and stringing power lines through thousands of miles of pristine jungle.

Brazil looks to develop Amazon as deforestation alarm rings
AFP, 05/21/2008

Brazil is preparing a controversial plan to develop parts of the Amazon and shed the idea of the area being a "sanctuary", even as warnings mount over the threat of deforestation to the vast and important zone.

Brazil environment agency seizes Amazon soy, corn
Reuters UK, 05/20/2008

Brazil's environmental agency Ibama said on Tuesday it seized some 4,740 tonnes of soy, corn and rice grown on illegally deforested land in the Amazon as the country struggles with its environmental image abroad. Brazil's farming, biofuels and ranching sectors, Latin America's largest, have come under fire, especially in Europe, for unregulated expansion at the cost of the environment, particularly in the Amazon. The European Union has been pushing to limit imports of commodities such as biofuels from Brazil on the grounds of sustainability. The government and large farming interests in Brazil have begun to realize the importance of public relations in trade and are investing to improve the country's environmental, sanitary and labor image abroad.

‘Stagnation’ made Brazil’s environment chief resign
The New York Times, 05/16/2008

Marina Silva, the environmental minister who resigned this week, blamed “stagnation” in the government for her decision at a news conference on Thursday and acknowledged that governors in frontline Amazon states were pressing the president to rescind measures intended to check deforestation.

Brazil Environment Minister Marina Silva resigns
The Associated Press, 05/13/2008

Renowned rain forest defender Marina Silva resigned as Brazil's environment minister on Tuesday, saying she lacked the necessary political support to protect the Amazon. Silva did not elaborate and did not blame President Luiz Inacio da Silva in excerpts of her resignation letter that were published by the government's official Agencia Brasil news service. Marina Silva — who is not related to the president — said she was stepping down because of "the difficulties I have been facing to pursue the federal environmental agenda," Agencia Brasil said.

Brazil unveils new plan to curb Amazon logging
The Associated Press, 05/10/2008

Brazil has unveiled its plan to encourage farmers in the Amazon region to develop sustainable sources of income and turn their backs on the illegal logging that is ravaging the rainforest. The Sustainable Amazon Plan includes £300m in low-interest loans that will be made available to farmers. Some 40,000 families who were formerly involved in logging will also get social security and unemployment benefits.

February

Brazil’s secrets of big oil discoveries stolen
Financial Times, 02/18/2008

Executives at Halliburton, the US oil industry services company, and Petrobras, the Brazilian state oil group, will be called to give evidence to Brazilian police this week following the theft of computer equipment containing secret information on recent discoveries of potentially enormous oil and natural gas deposits. Police have discarded initial suspicions that last week’s theft was an ordinary robbery that happened to pick up sensitive information, and are regarding it as industrial espionage.

Bolivia to squeeze natural gas supply for Brazil
Financial Times, 02/15/2008

Bolivia may place a cap on its natural gas exports to Brazil during the coming southern winter, freeing up production for Argentine consumers facing a renewed energy crunch. YPFB, Bolivia's state-owned oil and gas group, is expected to increase supplies to Enarsa, its Argentine counterpart, which pays $7 (€4.8, £3.6) per British thermal unit (BTU), the standard measure of thermal value. Supplies to Petrobras, the Brazilian government-controlled oil group which pays $5.6 per BTU, are likely to be capped.

Brazil raids Amazon timber mills
BBC News, 02/14/2008

Brazilian police have mounted a major operation in the Amazon, seizing what they describe as one of the biggest ever loads of illegally logged timber. Some 140 officers raided eight illegal sawmills in the state of Para, confiscating 10,000 cubic metres (353,000 cubic feet) of lumber. The operation marks the start of new government efforts to tackle illegal logging and slow Amazon deforestation.

A big oil discovery
The Economist, 02/12/2008

Brazil's role as a global energy producer is likely to increase dramatically over the next ten years. The country is already a relatively important oil producer, and following recent announcements of major offshore deep-water discoveries, the largest Latin American country will move from being self-sufficient to becoming a net exporter. If the government’s early estimates are confirmed—that the broader area where the recent discoveries were made might hold as much as 70bn-100bn barrels—Brazil will be able to boast of holding among the world's ten-largest oil reserves in the medium to the long term.

Studies deem biofuels a greenhouse threat
The New York Times, 02/08/2008

Almost all biofuels used today cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels if the full emissions costs of producing these “green” fuels are taken into account, two studies being published Thursday have concluded. The benefits of biofuels have come under increasing attack in recent months, as scientists took a closer look at the global environmental cost of their production. For related analyses see the NPR report and the Scientific American article.

For more background and an overview of the studies see the German Marshall Funds’ press release, which also contains links to articles and presentations related to the studies and the issue of biofuels.

Farming the Amazon with a machete and mulch
NPR, 02/04/2008

On jungle land at the mouth of the Amazon River, one resourceful female farmer has become a master of adaptation in a landscape of constant change. Her story offers an example of how individuals might face the challenges of climate change.

Amazon research raises tough questions
The Associated Press, 02/03/2008

Julio Tota stood atop a 195-foot steel tower in the heart of the Amazon rain forest, watching "rivers of air" flowing over an unbroken green canopy that stretched as far as the eye could see. These billows of fog showed researcher Tota how greenhouse gases emitted by decaying organic material on the forest floor don't rise straight into the atmosphere, as scientists had supposed. Instead, they hover and drift _ confounding scientific efforts to unlock the secrets of the world's largest remaining tropical wilderness.

January

Brazil Amazon deforestation soars
BBC News, 01/24/2008

In the last five months of 2007, 3,235 sq km (1,250 sq miles) were lost. Gilberto Camara, of INPE, an institute that provides satellite imaging of the area, said the rate of loss was unprecedented for the time of year. Officials say rising commodity prices are encouraging farmers to clear more land to plant crops such as soya. The monthly rate of deforestation saw a big rise from 243 sq km (94 sq miles) in August to 948 sq km (366 sq miles) in December.

Amazon beauty and destruction
The Washington Times, 01/19/2008

Can the Amazon be preserved? That important question was posed in November 2007 by the Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo (The State of Sao Paulo) just before the United Nations convened its meeting on climate change in Bali, Indonesia. The paper answered it with an investigation into conditions in Brazil's Amazon region, which accounts for 60 percent of the world's largest tropical forest. One of the byproducts of this research is a thought-provoking exhibit of 52 photographs on view at the Woodrow Wilson International Center's Brazil Institute.

Brazil sees sharp farm growth, despite environment
Reuters, 01/09/2008

Brazil's farm sector will grow rapidly over the next decade and double some of its leading exports despite concerns over Amazon destruction and farmers' debt, the government said on Wednesday. Critics say Brazil's rapidly expanding agricultural frontier has helped push farmers and loggers deeper into the world's largest rain forest, increasing destruction.

December

Brazil awards rights for rainforest power plant
Financial Times 12/10/2007

The Brazilian government has sold a concession to build and operate a controversial R$10bn hydroelectric power plant on the Madeira river in the Amazon forest near Brazil’s border with Bolivia. The winner was a consortium led by Odebrecht, a Brazilian construction and engineering group, and Furnas, a public-sector generating company. Environmental groups oppose the project because of the likely flooding to surrounding inhabited areas, though Odebrecht said the impact would be minimal.

November

Greenpeace takes legal action against construction of Brazil nuclear plant
The Associated Press, 11/06/2007

Greenpeace said Tuesday it has asked courts to block construction of a third nuclear power plant in energy-hungry Brazil. The environmental group said it is seeking a restraining order from a federal court in Angra dos Reis, a coastal resort south of Rio de Janeiro and the site of Brazil's only two nuclear power plants. Another action was filed in the nation's capital, Brasilia, Greenpeace press spokeswoman Gabriela Michelotti said.

October

Yahoo offsets "carbon footprint" with Brazil, India projects
AFP, 10/22/2007

Yahoo revealed plans on Monday to be "carbon neutral" by year's end by backing hydropower in rural Brazil and wind power in India. The Internet giant is following through on a promise it made earlier this year to offset an estimated 250,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases spewed as a result of power used by the California-based firm.

September

Brazil proposes 2012 meet to monitor progress since Earth Summit
AFP, 9/25/2007

During his visit to the United Nations, Brazilian President Lula da Silva on Tuesday proposed staging a major world gathering in 2012 to monitor progress since the 1992 Earth Summit that set down landmark accords on the environment.

Brazil's president calls for all nations to do their share in fighting climate change
The Associated Press, 9/14/2007

Brazil's president on Friday called for all nations to do their part to counter climate change, especially rich ones. During his visits to Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva used the opportunity to promote biofuels — Brazil is the world's largest export of ethanol — as a way of providing energy while cutting emissions from fossil fuels.

Finland may buy carbon emissions in Brazil
BBC Brasil.com , 09/11/2007

Brazil and Finland recently signed an agreement that will enable both countries to exchange information about their carbon dioxide emissions. The move is part of the Kyoto Protocol, which allows developing countries committed to reducing their carbon dioxide emission to invest on clean emission projects in other countries. The agreement between both countries remains to be seen but it could mean Brazil may be one of the beneficiaries to receive part of 200 million euros Finland plans to invest in other countries.

Brazil gives Amazon dams go-ahead
BBC, 7/10/07

Brazil has given the initial go-ahead for the construction of two hydro-electric dams to be built on the longest tributary of the Amazon River. The Madeira River projects have divided opinion even within government and in recent years have been one of the most environmentally sensitive issues. The intense debate, both inside and outside government, summed up the challenge in Brazil to reconcile the ambitions of a developing country alongside the need to protect the environment.

May

Brazil needs up to 8 nuclear plants to meet energy demands
Xinhua, 5/17/07

Brazil's rising energy demand has created the need to build four to eight nuclear power plants by 2030, the Ministry of Mining and Energy estimated Wednesday. Two nuclear power plants are [currently] operating in Brazil. Discussing the impasse in authorizing the building of two hydroelectric power plants on the Madeira River, the secretary said the government expects the environmental licenses to be issued this month.

Brazil: Switch-off sparks debate on how to secure future supplies
Financial Times, 5/8/07

Brazil is blessed with cheap, renewable electricity. About 85 per cent of its generating capacity is in the form of hydroelectric power. With abundant rainfall for much of the year, Brazilians are used to taking electricity for granted. So it came as a severe shock when the country was hit by electricity rationing in 2001 and 2002, the combined result of unusually low rainfall, complacency and bad management. Brazilians have not put the fear of another apagão behind them. Their concerns have been stoked over the past few months by media reports suggesting that more rationing could be in store in the near future.

Official says Amazon dams on fast track
Associated Press, 5/3/07

The newly appointed chief of Brazil's environmental protection agency vowed Thursday to speed the approval of two hydroelectric dam projects in the Amazon rain forest. The government argues the dams in the western Amazon are needed for Brazil to meet its growing energy needs, and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has long complained about delays in granting licenses for the dams. Environmentalists, however, say the dams will destroy a large swath of the rain forest and endanger rare fish.

April

New allies on the Amazon
Washington Post, 4/24/07

An unusual group unites to prevent rainforest clearing; McDonald’s and Greenpeace. Four environmental activists from Greenpeace and four corporate leaders from McDonald’s were in the rainforest together on a mission to see firsthand where farmers were cutting down virgin forest to grow soy beans for, among other customers, McDonald's. The ubiquitous fast-food company and the global environmentalists had already jointly pressured the biggest soy traders in Brazil into placing an unprecedented two-year moratorium on the purchase of any soy from newly deforested areas.

February

Raining on theories of Amazonian rainforest populations
USA Today, 2/25/07

Myths of pilgrims and conquistadors arriving to find an empty, overgrown New World after 1492 are fading away in light of recent scholarship. One setting for this recasting of pre-Columbian history has been the Amazon rainforest, the vast 1.2 billion-acre basin drained by that river. In 2003, a Science magazine study led by the University of Florida's Michael Heckenberger uncovered remains of at least 19 towns in Brazil's Xingu region, deep in the rainforest and dating as far back as the year 1200 AD.

Reconstructing Brazil’s Atlantic Rainforest
Science Magazine, 2/23/07

Some reforestation projects results in little more than tree plantations. An ambitious project in Brazil's São Paulo state is trying to go further and create a real working ecosystem. Throughout this pastoral region that was once the heart of Brazil's Atlantic rainforest, extensive deforestation has not only changed land cover, it has also altered the hydrologic cycle. The forest once stretched over 1 million square kilometers along Brazil's coastal region with extensions inland. Today, only 7% of that original extent persists.

Gold rush stirs hopes, fears in Brazil’s Amazon
Associated Press, 2/19/07

Brazil’s newest boom town brings quick riches along with crime, health and environmental problems. It's a gold rush in the jungle, driven by the Internet. Speeding past unbroken walls of foliage, a motorboat packed with gritty prospectors veers toward the shore of the Juma river. Rising up along the steep, muddy banks, a city of black plastic lean-tos appears veiled by greasy smoke. All around them are newly dug pits, felled trees and growing misery. This is Eldorado do Juma, Brazil's newest boom town.

January

Brazil nuts’ path to preservation
BBC, 1/28/07

Help is at hand for the Amazon rainforest and Brazil's poverty-stricken rural people - courtesy of the country's famous native nut. Brazil nuts are a valuable food source with a huge market in Europe and North America: up to 7,000 tonnes of unshelled nuts and 20,000 tonnes of shelled nuts are shipped every year. And because the trees that supply the nuts grow wild, they offer a way for communities to make a living from the forest without destroying it - something that is now being put to use in the country.

Brazil maps out agricultural sprawl in the Amazon
International Herald Tribune, 1/25/07

Brazil's Census Bureau on Thursday published a new map outlining where agricultural boundaries are encroaching on the Amazon rain forest, in a move that will help authorities monitor human activities in the region. The new maps outline data for each type of activity, allowing authorities to better monitor what is damaging the environment the most.

Vast pipelines in Amazon face challenges over protecting rights and rivers
New York Times, 1/21/07

In theory, the issue is a simple one: Brazil needs more sources of energy to keep its economy humming, and huge reserves of gas and oil are in the Amazon jungle. Problem solved. Over the years, Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, has, in fact, invested more than $7 billion in Amazon exploration and development, and in 1986 it made a major find here. But only now — after a seemingly endless sequence of geographic, logistical, environmental and political challenges were overcome — is the first in what is intended as a series of pipelines finally being constructed

Mitsubishi eyes bioethanol vehicles for Brazil, cold-weather models for U.S.
The Yomiuri Shimbun, 1/20/07

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. plans to start selling bioethanol-fueled vehicles in Brazil by the end of March 2008 and in the United States by the end of March 2010, sources said Friday. In Brazil, Mitsubishi Motors plans to introduce a 2-liter sport-utility vehicle, which likely will be designed based on the Pajero-io. Vehicles will be assembled at a local plant with ties to Mitsubishi. The new model will run either on 100 percent bioethanol fuel or a bioethanol-gasoline blend.

Brazil sees traces of more isolated Amazon tribes
Reuters, 1/17/07

Far more Indian groups than previously thought are surviving in Brazil's Amazon rain forest isolated from the outside world but they risk extermination at the hands of encroaching loggers and miners, experts said on Wednesday. A study by Funai, the government's National Indian Foundation, and seen by Reuters estimates that around 67 Indian groups live in complete isolation, up from previous estimates of around 40. "With the rate of destruction in the Amazon, it is amazing there are any isolated people left at all," said Fiona Watson, a coordinator for Survival International (NGO).

Brazil gambles on monitoring of Amazon loggers
New York Times, 1/15/07

A Brazilian government plan set to go into effect this year will bring large-scale logging deep into the heart of the Amazon rain forest for the first time, in a calculated gamble that new monitoring efforts can offset any danger of increased devastation. The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in an attempt to create Brazil’s first coherent, effective forest policy, is to begin auctioning off timber rights to large tracts of the rain forest. The winning bidders will not have title to the land or the right to exploit resources other than timber, and the government says they will be closely monitored and will pay a royalty on their activities.

Brazil mudslides kill at least 37
BBC NEWS, 1/08/07

Mudslides in southern Brazil have killed at least 37 people and made thousands homeless after several days of heavy rain, officials say. Most of the deaths were in mountainous areas of Rio de Janeiro state, where shantytown dwellings were swept away by torrents of mud. A state of emergency has been declared in several areas and the federal government has promised aid.

December 2006

Struggling to Save His Amazon, From the Top of a Death List
New York Times, 12/30/06

After the American nun Dorothy Stang was murdered, Tarcísio Feitosa da Silva of the Church's Pastoral Land Commission replaced her at the top of the death list that loggers, ranchers, miners, and land speculators in the Brazilian Amazon are known to maintain. Mr. Feitosa, who won the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2006, assists in challenging forged land titles, denouncing unauthorized logging, and organizing peasant farmers to resist land invasions.

Brazil Creates Huge Preserve in the Amazon
Washington Post, 12/05/06

On December 4 the Brazilian government created the world's largest tropical rain forest preserve in Pará. Covering 58,000 square miles, this preserve will serve to protect the Amazon from illegal logging and stop land speculators from selling fake titles. While sustainable economic activities for locals will be allowed, demarcation of the preserve expands a key wildlife corrider in the region.

August

The age of ethanol?
Inter-American Development Bank Magazine, 8/2006

“If Brazil can do it, we can do it here in the United States.” Maria Cantwell, a U.S. Senator for the state of Washington, made headlines last May with this statement about Brazil’s use of ethanol to achieve energy independence. She joined a chorus of politicians, business leaders and opinion makers around the world who have been touting biofuels as part of the solution to the problems caused by high petroleum prices. Indeed, Cantwell’s remark showed that expectations surrounding biofuels have grown so inflated that they are no longer tethered to reality. The United States consumes nearly 25 times as much gasoline as Brazil, according to the American Petroleum Institute.

Regional and International Relations

July

Brazilian ambassador plays down terror threat from tri-border area
CQ Politics, 07/29/2008

Investigative efforts by South American and U.S. authorities dispel the notion that the “tri-border” region where Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay meet is an unwatched hotbed for Islamist militant group recruiting and funding, according to Brazilian Ambassador Antonio Patriota. The tri-border region has long been a source of concern for the United States and the subject of numerous media reports — usually citing intelligence sources — that say it has served as a meeting place for top terrorist operatives, a Western base for the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah and a bankroll for similar organizations. Speaking at a Tuesday roundtable hosted by the George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute, Patriota called those conclusions “myths,” saying the “Three Plus One” initiative that pools intelligence resources from Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and the United States has turned up no evidence to support them.

Brazil, Colombia boost trade ties
Associated Press, 07/20/2008

The presidents of Brazil and Colombia vowed Saturday to boost trade and investment between their nations ahead of crucial world trade talks next week. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged Colombia and other South American countries to increase regional trade ties "so we aren't left dependent on a single partner," such as the U.S. or European Union.

Quietly, Brazil eclipses an ally
The New York Times, 07/07/2008

Today the leaders of Venezuela and Brazil, often partners but sometimes rivals, offer starkly different paths toward development, and it is Brazil’s milder and more pragmatic approach that appears ascendant. Amid the decline of American influence in the region, the Brazilian president is discreetly outflanking Mr. Chávez at almost every turn in the struggle for leadership in South America.

May

Brazilian leader’s visit to Haiti eagerly awaited
The Miami Herald, 05/28/2008

With the largest battalion of United Nations peacekeepers patrolling the streets of Haiti, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been one of the Caribbean nation's leading defenders, championing its fledging democracy both at home and abroad. But as Haiti continues to drift politically, some are hoping that Lula's arrival Wednesday will be the political nudge the troubled nation needs to get back on course.

Paraguay, Brazil feuding over vaunted dam
The Baltimore Sun, 05/25/2008

In a region where nationalism often trumps cross-border cooperation, the engineering marvel known as Itaipu was a triumph of teamwork: Paraguay and Brazil collaborated on a colossal project to reroute the mighty Parana River, dam its waters and create the world's largest hydroelectric plant. But resentment toward Brazil has grown since Fernando Lugo was elected in April as Paraguay's president. He accuses Brazil of benefiting from a sweetheart deal that yields power at cut-rate prices. Brazilians in turn say they are being unfairly painted as profiteers, their early financial and technical contributions to the project ignored.

April

EXCLUSIVE-Brazil might not extradite drug lord to US-official
Reuters, 04/08/2008

Brazil might not extradite Colombian drug lord Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia to face drug and other charges in the United States, the justice minister said on Tuesday. Abadia, who the United States says was one of the most powerful leaders of Colombia's cocaine cartels, was sentenced in Brazil last week to 30 years in prison on drug charges.

March

US still eyeing Venezuela over alleged FARC support: Rice
AFP, 03/13/2008
The United States is examining information allegedly showing links between Venezuela and Colombian rebels and "will act accordingly," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters here Thursday. But Rice would not be drawn on whether Venezuela could be added to the US list of terror-sponsoring states, despite US President George W. Bush on Wednesday slamming Caracas for supporting "terrorists."

Regional Bloc Criticizes Colombia Raid in Ecuador
The New York Times, 03/06/2008

The Organization of American States approved a resolution on Wednesday declaring the Colombian military raid into Ecuador a violation of sovereignty, in a move aimed at easing a diplomatic crisis in the Andes involving Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. The resolution was approved in Washington after talks in which the United States was the hemisphere’s only nation explicitly supporting Colombia, a top Bush administration ally.

Rice to visit Brazil and Chile next week
Reuters, 03/06/2008

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit Brazil and Chile next week, an aide said on Thursday, making a trip that could be overshadowed by a dispute over Colombia's bombing of rebels on Ecuadorean soil. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Rice's March 13-15 journey would include two stops in Brazil -- the capital, Brasilia, and the city of Salvador, the former slave port that is now capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia.

February

Brazil seeks to build nuclear submarine
Associated Press, 01/29/2008

Brazil is seeking to buy military technology from France that could help it become the first country in Latin America to have a nuclear submarine, the Defense Ministry said on Monday. Defense Minister Nelson Jobim traveled to France last week to discuss the possible purchase of a diesel-powered Scorpene class submarine that would "serve as a model for the development of a nuclear submarine, which is the main objective of his visit," said Defense Ministry spokesman Jose Ramos.

December

Brazilians giving up their American Dreams
The New York Times 12/04/2007

Like hundreds of thousands of middle-class Brazilians who moved to the United States over the last two decades, Jose Osvandir Borges and his wife, Elisabeth, came on tourist visas and stayed as illegal immigrants, putting down roots in ways they never expected.

October

Brazil moves to approve Venezuela in Mercosur
Reuters, 10/24/2007

A committee in Brazil's lower house of Congress gave its approval on Wednesday to Venezuela's entry into the South American trade bloc Mercosur after months of diplomatic wrangling between both countries. The proposal approved by the Chamber of Deputies' foreign relations committee still faces two more votes in the Chamber before it goes to the Senate, where an opposition critical of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez holds more power. Other Mercosur members Argentina and Uruguay have already approved Venezuela's membership but the Paraguayan congress must still vote as well.

Brazil, Argentina Demand More IMF Scrutiny of Richer Nations
Bloomberg, 10/21/2007

Brazil and Argentina chastised the International Monetary Fund for its failure to foresee the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market. Ministers from the two nations, which have required rescues from the IMF in the past two decades, said the fund should scrutinize richer countries as much as emerging economies. The call for equal treatment was echoed by the Group of 24, a collection of officials from developing countries.

September

Brazil asylum for Cuban athletes
BBC News, 09/29/2007

Brazil has granted asylum to two Cuban athletes who defected during July's Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro. Cyclist Michel Fernandez Garcia and handball player Rafael Capote won asylum after Brazil controversially sent two boxers back to Cuba.

Towns Rethink Laws Against Illegal Immigrants
The New York Times, 09/26/2007

In the past two years, more than 30 towns nationwide have enacted laws intended to address problems attributed to illegal immigration, from overcrowded housing and schools to overextended police forces. Most of those laws, called for fines and even jail sentences for people who knowingly rented apartments to illegal immigrants or who gave them jobs.

Congressmen worry about funding cuts to Brazil
BBC Brasil , 9/20/2007

Members of the House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere held a hearing on US-Brazil relations on Wednesday. Chaired by New York Rep. Eliot Engel, the hearing highlighted labor rights issues, trade negotiations, biofuels initiatives, among other topics. Woodrow Wilson Center Brazil Institute Director Paulo Sotero testified along with Stanley A. Gacek, associate director of the International Department of the AFL-CIO, Joel Velasco, chief U.S. representative of UNICA (Brazilian Sugar Cane Industry Association) and Mark Smith, managing director of Western Hemisphere Affairs of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. To view the hearing’s video and the written testimonies, please click here

Venezuela's Chavez urges Brazil to counter US
Reuters , 9/20/2007

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez urged Brazil on Thursday to accelerate trade and energy integration with his country to help counterbalance U.S. interests in the region. The leader of the oil-rich Caribbean nation criticized Brazil for dragging its feet on his proposal to build a $20 billion pipeline from Venezuela to Argentina that would supply much of South America with gas.

July

Brazil, U.S. still pushing WTO deal – U.S. Ambassador
Reuters, 7/24/07

The presidents of Brazil and the United States are determined to push stalled global trade talks and Washington hopes to see some progress in coming weeks, the U.S. ambassador to Brazil said on Monday. "It's complicated, but we've not given up, and perhaps with leadership like President Bush and President Lula...we can still be successful," Sobel told a meeting of the Rio de Janeiro Industry Federation. WTO talks resume this week in Geneva ahead of a ministerial meeting, possibly in September. WTO mediators last week proposed last-ditch compromises to overcome impasses over agriculture and industrial goods.

Brazil to build dams despite Bolivian concerns
Reuters, 7/13/07

Despite Bolivian concerns about the environmental impact of two dams slated for construction in the Amazon region, Brazil's foreign minister said Friday they would be built as planned. In a letter to his Bolivian counterpart, David Choquehuanca, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim proposed a meeting this month, but insisted that Brazil alone had the authority to license the projects. Brazil's top diplomat said in Valor newspaper on Friday that construction would go ahead. "We are not going to stop doing things that are our right," he said. For more information see a BBC article.

Brazil and Mercosul at crossroads over Chavez
Reuters, 7/7/07

Following Venezuela's threat this week to withdraw its bid to join the Mercosur trading bloc, Brazil must decide whether it wants to lead a large and divided group or keep it small and agile to pursue trade deals around the world, analysts say. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told Mercosur parliaments this week they must approve Venezuela's entry within three months or he would withdraw the application. A few years ago Brazil and Venezuela saw Mercosur, which also includes Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, as a common platform to oppose U.S. trade interests in the region.

Brazil discusses bilateral agreement with Germany
Estado de S. Paulo, 7/2/07

The intent of the agreement is to reinstate a nuclear accord signed between the two countries in 1975 and to include ethanol and other sources of renewable energy. By including ethanol and other sources of renewable energy in the agreement, Itamaraty seeks to diffuse the German Parliament’s concern that Brazil is reviving an “old dream [to become] a nuclear superpower.” The accord outlines several potential alternative approaches to technology transfer, which do not necessarily stipulate the purchase of new uranium centrifuges; improving efficiency of existing nuclear power plants appears to be one of such less controversial options.

EU-Mercosul accord gains new strength
Estado de S. Paulo, 7/2/07

Brazil announced to the EU that it is ready to reinitiate free-trade negotiations between EU and Mercosul, without awaiting final results from the Doha round. EU commerce commissioner, Peter Mandelson, will meet with Celso Amorim, Brazilian foreign relations minister, to discuss bilateral relations, the (recently announced) strategic partnership, how to advance Doha negotiations and the EU-Mercosul accord. Until now, Brussels has resisted proceeding with bilateral negotiations because it fears having to make repetitive agriculture concessions.

June

Brazil finds a belated ally in India
Bloomberg, 6/17/07

Brazil is risking China's displeasure by cozying up to that other rising Asian superpower, India. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva did just that this month, visiting India in an effort to quadruple trade to $10 billion and talking of a special partnership. Mindful of how that might look in Beijing, Lula said in New Delhi that "today, it is important to talk to China. On the eve of Lula's trip, Jaguaribe told the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo that "it's inevitable for Brazil to have a special relationship with India."

Bush discusses Doha and global warming with Lula during phone call
Associated Press, 6/12/07

Bush telephoned Brazil President Lula and said he would be willing to discuss global warming under UN auspices, Lula's office said Monday. "The telephone call lasted 20 minutes ... the presidents discussed two issues: trade negotiations in the WTO and global warming," the president's office said in a statement. "Bush gave the opinion that additional concessions by all sides would be enough to make the next (WTO) round work," the statement said. Bush also "was grateful for the optimism" Lula has shown on the prospects of reaching a WTO agreement. The Brazilian leader said his government was ready to help and "stressed the importance the negotiations be based on the principle of proportionality."

Cocaine flows over Brazil-Bolivia border
Associated Press, 6/10/07

The view into Brazil from this Bolivian border city is of an Amazon jungle paradise: an endless green horizon broken only by a patch of urban skyline reflected in a shimmering lagoon. But in the tranquility, authorities see an increasingly sophisticated cocaine trade positioned to supply Brazil's megacities to the east and Europe.The gateway for that trade is an imposing tangle of swamps, rivers, and rainforest along the 2,130-mile Brazil-Bolivia border, a daunting frontier neither country guards especially closely. Bolivia has only one border officer for every 13 miles. On the Brazilian side, the sparse 100 border posts are manned by a patchwork of local and national officers.

Brazil, India aim to boost trade fourfold by 2010
Forbes, 6/6/07

On a three-day visit to India, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and key officials here set a target of quadrupling bilateral trade by 2010 to $10 billion a year. With the economies of both countries growing at a brisk pace, such goal-setting was to be expected on this visit, for which Lula was accompanied by a team of 100 officials. Media reports emanating from Brazil called the India trip the “most important visit” of the year for the Brazilian leader given their increasingly coordinated stands on global trade and environmental issues. This is his second visit to India in three years.

Brazil to favor economic ties not spat with Chavez
Reuters, 6/4/07

A diplomatic spat over President Hugo Chavez's closure of an opposition TV channel has brought calls for Brazil to distance itself from Venezuela but is unlikely to drive the two apart, analysts said. Some Brazilian legislators said the South American trade block Mercosur should rethink allowing Venezuela to become a full member, if it did not comply with the principles of democracy and freedom of the press. But “the bilateral political and economic interests and South American integration projects justify Brazil's decision to appease Venezuela,” said Lula's foreign policy adviser Marco Aurelio Garcia.

May

EU to seek strategic partnership with Brazil
Forbes, 5/29/07

The European Commission will propose on Wednesday upgrading EU relations with Brazil to a strategic partnership, putting the Latin American country in a select club with China and the US, EU officials said. According to EU officials, the aim is to boost cooperation on such issues as energy and the environment as well as improving coordination between the EU and Brazil within international organizations. The commission wants the strategic partnership to be the main subject of an EU-Brazil summit to be held in Lisbon on July 4.

Brazil, Paraguay struggle to combat smuggling at Friendship Bridge
Associated Press, 5/22/07

No one checks passports and anyone asking questions is hustled away in this smugglers' haven near the "Triple Border," where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet — and where contraband electronics, toys, drugs and arms flow across porous borders.Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte and Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met in Asuncion on Monday and vowed to boost legitimate trade and to strengthen cross-border cooperation in fighting smuggling in the Triple Border. They also signed a pledge to build another bridge on the Parana River separating their countries.

Brazil, Argentina faulted on air safety
Washington Post, 5/20/07

Pilots and air traffic controllers have warned that shoddy safety systems could be putting passengers at risk in South America's two largest countries, prompting an international outcry for rapid overhauls of the organizations that manage air transit in Argentina and Brazil. Increased air traffic at major airports in both countries has not resulted in corresponding upgrades of infrastructure or additional staffing, according to organizations representing thousands of pilots and air traffic controllers worldwide.

April

Brazil, India eye nuclear energy ties
Financial Express, 4/24/07

India and Brazil may explore possible nuclear energy ties at a CEOs’ forum to be launched in June. This forum, to be represented by top corporate leaders from the two countries, will be flagged off when Lula visits the country in June. During the visit, the Brazilian President is expected to discuss plans of introducing eco-friendly ethanol fuel in India, external affairs ministry officials said. The same official affirmed that “Nuclear energy is a future area of cooperation between India and Brazil.”

Brazil’s leader begins diplomatic offensive
Los Angeles Times, 4/27/07

President Lula arrived in Argentina on Thursday night as part of a diplomatic offensive aimed at reasserting Brazil's regional leadership role against a mounting challenge by President Chavez. Though Lula has denied any effort to undermine Chavez's petro-diplomacy, South American analysts see the Brazilian president responding to his Venezuelan counterpart's oil-funded strategy to become a regional power broker — a role Lula believes should rightly be his because his nation is Latin America's largest and most populous.

To fortify China, soybean harvest grows in Brazil
New York Times, 4/6/07

China’s global scramble for natural resources is leading to a transformation of agricultural trading around the world. In China, vanishing cropland and diminishing water supplies are hampering the country’s ability to feed itself, and the increasing use of farmland in the United States to produce biofuels is pushing China to seek more of its staples from South America, where land is still cheap and plentiful. Countries with vast arable land available for expansion, particularly Brazil, are now racing to meet demand in China, whose population of 1.3 billion is 10 times that of Japan’s.

March

Brazil President: End airport problems
Associated Press, 3/27/07

Brazil's president, irritated by a long-standing airport crisis and constant flight delays, on Tuesday said Brazilians will not accept any more excuses and ordered aides to set a deadline for solving the problems. "There are no more excuses for society, just the solution," President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told reporters at the Presidential Palace. "I want a precise diagnosis because I think the state has to ensure tranquility for the arrival and departure of travelers, whether Brazilians or foreigners."

Brazil shuts down Cargill’s Amazon port
Associated Press, 3/24/07

Authorities shut down an important deep-water Amazon River port owned by Cargill Inc. on Saturday, saying the huge U.S. agribusiness firm failed to provide an environmental impact statement required by law. The move by federal police and environmental agents to close Cargill's controversial soy export terminal was a major victory for environmentalists in Santarem, a sleepy jungle city about 1,250 miles northwest of Sao Paulo.

Woes will trail Bush to Latin America
Associated Press, 3/5/07

Second-term presidents often find comfort in foreign policy and overseas travel as they lose clout at home. A statesman-abroad strategy, however, will not work particularly well for President Bush on a six-day Latin American trip designed to signal a revitalized U.S. commitment to the region. Bush's trip - to generally friendly nations - is intended to show renewed interest in a part of the world that has felt neglected since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Lula not to discuss Chávez with Bush
O Estado de S.Paulo , 3/5/07 (em português)

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva says he doesn’t intend on discussing Chávez with Bush. “I don’t believe President Bush is visiting to discuss an issue like this,” said Lula in his weekly radio program. “I respect the sovereignty of every country; I don’t think there is any space for people to discuss other country’s problems.” Lula confirmed that he expects to talk about the issue of agricultural subsidies relating to the Doha round and the production of biofuels with Bush.

Lula hosts Bush in São Paulo to talk ethanol
Reuters Brasil, 3/5/07 (em português)

This week, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will host his North American counterpart, George W. Bush, who will start his Latin American tour in Brazil. On the commercial side, the focus will be on ethanol cooperation. As of now, it is confirmed that he will be in São Paulo on Friday, visiting a Transpetro terminal in Guarulhos, operated by state-owned Petrobras. On site, he will be able to receive information regarding the storage and distribution of ethanol.

Silva raps U.S. tariff on Brazil ethanol
Associated Press, 3/5/07

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday that a U.S. tariff on Brazilian ethanol does not make sense and that he will complain about it to U.S. President George W. Bush when the American leader visits Brazil later this week. The United States' 54 cent-per-gallon tariff on Brazilian ethanol makes the sugarcane-based fuel more expensive in America, and means that American corn that could be used for animal feed is being diverted to produce ethanol, Silva said.

U.S., Brazil launch biofuels forum
Associated Press, 3/3/07

The world's two top ethanol producers -- the U.S. and Brazil -- announced the creation of an international forum to help expand the global market for biofuels, just days before the two countries are expected to sign a separate agreement promoting ethanol across the Western Hemisphere. The International Biofuel Forum will meet regularly for a year to draft global standards for biofuel production, find ways to open markets and encourage investment in countries with the potential to develop the industry, officials said Friday. Eight out of 10 Brazilian cars run on ethanol, which emits far less greenhouse gases than fossil fuels.

Bush names 7 countries to join ethanol program
O Estado de S.Paulo, 3/2/07 (em português)

The Bush administration indicated 7 countries from the continent which he considers “strategic” for the Brazil-U.S. ethanol partnership, according to a White House proposal sent to Congress. According to a high level republican official who had access to the document, these countries should receive construction investments to build ethanol plants. The resources will be provided by the American government, the OAS, the IDB, and the UN fund. The countries include: Peru, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Spring Break – Latin America and the U.S.
The Economist, 3/1/07

Expectations are low as George Bush sets off to a region he neglected throughout much of his presidency. Latin American attitudes to their powerful neighbour are full of paradoxes. Although many aspire to migrate there in search of opportunity, anti-American attitudes have been hardening. In a recent poll for the BBC World Service, 64% of Argentines, 57% of Brazilians, 53% of Mexicans and 51% of Chileans said they had a “mainly negative” view of American influence. Relations with the five governments he is visiting—in Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico—are good. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil's president, is expected to visit Mr Bush at Camp David in a few weeks.

Fuel for friendship
The Economist, 3/1/07

March 8th Mr Bush and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil's president, are expected to strike a deal intended to boost biofuels. “Ethanol diplomacy” will be a focus of Mr Bush's Latin American tour. Brazil can produce ethanol for 22 cents a litre, compared with 30 cents a litre for corn-based ethanol, according to Icone, a Brazilian think-tank. That makes it cheaper than petrol, and therefore lucrative for farmers without subsidies. For the past three decades, sugarcane plantations have been spreading north and west across Brazil's hinterlands, replacing coffee, citrus and pasture.

February

Brazil bans nuclear knowhow to Tehran
Buenos Aires Herald, 2/26/07

Brazil yesterday banned the sale and transfer of nuclear equipment and technology to Iran, citing a United Nations resolution on Tehran’s uranium enrichment program. Brazil began enriching uranium in 2004 and is one of a few countries with the full cycle of technology to make nuclear fuel. It operates two domestic nuclear power plants but does not have a nuclear weapons program. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva issued a decree that prohibits the transfer of nuclear technology to Iran and freezes financial assets with links to Iran’s nuclear program.

Chavez sends Brazil sulfur for “Devil” Bush visit
Reuters, 2/21/07

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who mocked George W. Bush as the devil in a U.N. speech, said on Wednesday he was sending sulfur to Brazil for the U.S. president's visit there next month. During a tour of an oil reserve with his Argentine counterpart Nestor Kirchner, Chavez held up a small vial of the pale-yellow element and said he would send to their fellow leftist ally and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. “I am going to send this vial to Lula for when the little gentleman comes so that he can place it out there in Brasilia,” Chavez said with a laugh.

U.S., Brazil aim to create global ethanol market
Reuters, 2/21/07

The United States and Brazil, the world's top producers of ethanol, will start seeking ways to create a global market for the biofuel by promoting common standards, a U.S State Department specialist on energy said. The subject will be on the table when President George W. Bush meets his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, during a trip to Latin America set for March. "Collectively we have more than 70 per cent of market share," said Gregory Manuel, the State Department special advisor on energy, during a seminar at the Brazil Institute of the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington on Tuesday.

Bolivia, Brazil agree to hike in gas price
Associated Press, 2/16/07

Brazil will pay as much as 11 percent more for natural gas from Bolivia under a deal their presidents signed Thursday that could resolve a year of strife between the South American neighbors. Brazilians will pay more for electricity, automobile fuel and cooking gas as a result of the accord reached by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Bolivian President Evo Morales after marathon negotiations.

US seeks partnership with Brazil on ethanol
The Washington Post, 2/8/07

The United States and Brazil, the two largest biofuel producers in the world, are meeting this week to discuss a new energy partnership that they hope will encourage ethanol use throughout Latin America and that U.S. officials hope will diminish the regional influence of oil-rich Venezuela. U.S. officials said they expect to sign accords within a year that would promote technology-sharing with Brazil and encourage more Latin American neighbors to become biofuel producers and consumers.

Brazil scolds rich on environment
BBC, 2/7/07

Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has accused developed countries of failing to do enough to fight against global warming. In a speech in Rio de Janeiro, President Lula said it was time for wealthy countries to do more to reduce gas emissions. He called on them to stop preaching on what to do with the Amazon rainforest. Lula said developed nations applied a double standard in their approach to global warming.

February

Venezuela wants Mercosul to embrace anti-imperialism
New York Times, 1/19/07

South American leaders began gathering here on Thursday for discussions focused on a single, contentious issue: should the Mercosur trade group continue to emphasize economic integration, as Brazil and Argentina prefer, or transform itself into a political alliance with an “anti-imperialist” tint, the path President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela favors? The conference’s Brazilian hosts tried to minimize the prospect of tensions, with Foreign Minister Celso Amorim talking of a “reinforced Mercosur” that he said “belongs to everybody.”

Brazil refinery to cost much more than originally planned
International Herald Tribune, 1/18/07

A planned refinery to process Venezuelan and Brazilian crude will cost US$4 billion (€3.1 billion) to build, far more than previous estimates, the state-run oil company Petrobras, said Thursday. Petrobras chief executive Sergio Gabrielli did not say what drove the cost of the project higher. Previous estimates put the price of the refinery in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco at about US$2.8 billion (€2.17 billion).

Bolivia, Brazil to Talk Gas in Rio
Prensa Latina, 1/16/07

Prices for the natural gas Bolivia is supplying to Brazil center the coming talks between presidents Evo Morales and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, government sources stated on Tuesday. According to the state Bolivian Tax Oil Fields director Juan Carlos Ortiz, negotiations among technical experts will be complemented with political dialogue. On the base of a commercial operation accord for 20 years, in force since 1999, Bolivia exports an average of 26 million cubic meters of gas daily to Brazil, valued at $4.3 per million of British Thermal Units (BTU).

Bush, Lula da Silva to meet to 'build a positive agenda'
Washington Times, 1/12/07

President Lula is to meet with President Bush today, becoming the first leader who opposed the war in Iraq to be officially received in Washington. The two leaders are likely to discuss issues such as technology, energy, health, and education, and only briefly touch upon thornier issues, such as agricultural subsidies and anti-dumping rules. Until recently, international investors were wary of Lula; however, he has maintained strong macroeconomic fundamentals while at the same time improved social equity.

December 2006

Ethanol use can strengthen U.S.-Latin America relations
Miami Herald, 12/19/06

Greater use of ethanol can increase protection for our environment, reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, and strengthen relations with Latin America, writes Jeb Bush. The governor of Florida recently met with Brazil's former minister of agrilcutre and president of the Superior Council of Agrobusiness, Roberto Rodriques, to launch the Interamerican Ethanol Commission. The organization serves to consolidate a workable marketplace for ethanol that promotes development, energy security, a cleaner environment and regional cooperation.

Nation, Politics and Government

September

After a Century, a Literary Reputation Finally Blooms
New York Times, 09/12/2008

“Machado 21: A Centennial Celebration” is being held Monday through Friday in New York City and New Haven, slightly ahead of the actual Sept. 29 date of his death. The commemorations include round tables and seminars discussing the author’s life and work; readings; screenings of films based on his work; an exhibition of art inspired by his writings; and a performance of some of his poems set to music.

Half the nation, a hundred million citizens strong
The Economist, 09/11/2008

What impact will a larger middle class have on politics? Past polling suggests people in this income bracket would tend to favour the centre-left Party of Brazilian Social Democracy (PSDB) of former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso over Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s Workers’ Party (PT).
Yet according to Mauro Paulino of Datafolha, a pollster, Lula’s personal popularity and his government’s social programmes have disturbed this equation. “Those who have moved up from class D to C and experienced help from the government along the way, are likely to stick with the PT,” he says. David Fleischer of the University of Brasilia has calculated that PT candidates, or those allied with the party, are at present ahead in 20 out of 26 mayoral races for state capitals in next month’s municipal elections

Head of Brazil's intelligence agency removed
Associated Press, 09/02/2008

Brazil's president on Monday suspended the head of the nation's intelligence service amid a scandal over wiretaps on the phones of top officials, including the chief justice of the Supreme Court. The scandal broke this weekend after the Brazilian news magazine Veja reported the head of Brazil's Supreme Court, members of Congress and officials close to Silva — including his chief of staff and at least one Cabinet official — all had their phones bugged by the intelligence agency.

August

Brazil celebrates half-century of silky Bossa Nova music
AFP, 08/15/2008

Bossa Nova, Brazil's unique mix of jazz and samba, celebrates 50 years this month with shows by one of the genre's pioneers, Joao Gilberto, who brought "The Girl from Ipanema" to the world. The three concerts by 77-year-old Gilberto in Rio and Sao Paulo sold out within an hour of going on sale Thursday, testifying to the lasting appeal and inspiration of both the silky music and the singer's hypnotically breathy performance. Gilberto -- the surviving member of the trio behind Bossa Nova that also counted composer Tom Jobim and poet Vinicius de Moraes -- has not sung in public in Brazil for five years.

Soldiers blamed for killings in Rio de Janeiro slum
Los Angeles Times, 08/10/2008

Eleven soldiers have been arrested and accused of detaining three Providence Hill men at a plaza in June and turning them over to thugs in the rival Mineira Hill favela, authorities say. The troops were trying to "scare" the unruly young men, according to subsequent testimony. Instead, the three turned up dead in a vast trash heap on the edge of town, shot dozens of times, their bodies badly disfigured. A nation anesthetized to daily dispatches of mayhem from the slums was stunned by the turn of events in Rio's most historic favela -- which even a century ago a local paper called "the hide-out of people who are willing to kill for any reason, or even for no reason at all." The irony is that the army generally enjoyed higher standing in the favelas than the police, widely assailed as brutal and corrupt, and sometimes in cahoots with shady militiamen who serve as ad hoc executioners.

July

Brazil revives nuclear power plant
CNN, 07/31/2008

A government-controlled firm is forging ahead with plans to resume expansion of Brazil's nuclear power program. The Brazilian government has authorized the company, Electronuclear, to go back to work on the nation's third nuclear power plant. Work on the Angra 3 reactor, near Rio de Janeiro, has been stalled for 22 years by a lack of money and political issues. But the administration of President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva is turning to nuclear power to meet electricity needs that are growing with the country's booming economy.

Brazil’s success in AIDS fight depends on cheap drugs
AFP, 07/30/2008

Brazil, long considered a model country in the fight against AIDS, depends on cheap retroviral treatments secured from the big drug companies after fierce struggle. That fight goes on today, with Brazil also manufacturing its own generic anti-AIDS medicine. The strategy has created friction with the pharmaceutical groups investing billions in new anti-virals -- but it has also proved successful in this vast country, population 190 million, which has a third of Latin America's HIV-positive patients.

Gilberto Gil steps down as Brazil culture minister
Associated Press, 07/30/2008

Grammy-winning Brazilian musician Gilberto Gil stepped down as culture minister on Wednesday, saying he wanted to dedicate more time to his music and his family. The artist, who revolutionized Brazilian music in the 1960s as a founder of the Tropicalism movement, had been culture minister since 2003, when President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva started his first term in office.

Radio documentary: Brazil rising
The Stanley Foundation, June 2008

A new Brazil is emerging on the world stage. Brazil today is one of the fastest growing players in the global economy, a bio-fuels pioneer on the fast track to energy self-sufficiency, a booming haven for foreign investment, and a test case for a new approach to governance in Latin America. In “Brazil Rising,” released in June 2008, veteran public radio journalist David Brown takes listeners on a personal journey across the country, exploring Brazil’s view of itself, its neighbors, and the world.

Mending an icon
The Economist, 07/17/2008

When Sérgio Cabral was elected governor of Rio state at the end of 2006, hopes were high that he might curb corruption among politicians and the police, and pull the city of Rio (for which he is also responsible) out of a 25-year slump. Mr Cabral’s government, which is clean, competent and takes institutions seriously, is a huge improvement. Yet it is too early to declare Rio’s renaissance to be under way.

June

Brazil soldiers accused in gang killings
The Associated Press, 06/16/2008

Eleven Brazilian soldiers were arrested after allegedly turning over three shantytown residents to a drug gang that executed them and left their bodies in a garbage dump, police said Monday. The killings touched off anti-military protests on Sunday and Monday in the Providencia shantytown, with residents burning city buses and throwing rocks at soldiers.

100 years on, Japanese a vibrant part of Brazil
Reuters, 06/16/2008

The first wave of Japanese immigration to Brazil began in 1908, when 781 peasant farmers aboard the Kasato Maru steamship arrived in Santos port near Sao Paulo to work on six farms. Brazil, which abolished slavery only 20 years earlier, needed workers for coffee plantations that drove its economy, while industrializing Japan had a surplus of peasant farmers. One hundred years later -- an anniversary being celebrated this week with Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito's visit to Brazil -- there are about 1.5 million Japanese descendents whose influence on society has spread from the vast farmlands to martial arts to architecture and the business arena.

In Rio slum, armed militia replaces drug gang’s criminality with its own
Brazil arrests police officer in crackdown on militia (Follow-up)
The New York Times, 06/13/2008, 06/17/2008

Brazil is undergoing an economic boom that is lifting millions out of poverty. Despite the economic growth, Rio’s slums, or favelas, have proliferated and now may number more than 800. Low morale and pay have prompted police officers, firefighters and prison workers to moonlight as militia members, police officers and criminologists who have studied them say.

Brazil land activists, police clash
The Associated Press, 06/12/2008

Police in southern Brazil fired rubber bullets and tear gas Wednesday at protesters who tried to invade a supermarket to protest high food prices, part of widespread demonstrations across more than a dozen states. Food prices in Brazil rose 2 percent in May, but rice jumped almost 20 percent in that time, the government's statistics agency said. Bread prices rose by 4.7 percent and meat climbed 3.5 percent, according to the report.

UN: Killings by Brazil police unchecked
The Associated Press, 06/02/2008

Thousands of killings by Brazilian police are going largely unpunished because of public approval for a perceived crackdown on crime, a U.N. envoy said Sunday. Officials have often turned a blind eye to extrajudicial executions by police in crime-riddled Rio de Janeiro state because of "policing by opinion poll," U.N. special envoy Philip Alston wrote in a preliminary report. Alston investigated the killings in November and will present his findings to a U.N. Human Rights Council session that opens Monday in Geneva.

May

Brazil’s top court approves stem cell research
The Associated Press, 05/29/2008

Brazil's Supreme Court ruled Thursday that scientists can conduct embryonic stem cell research, which holds the promise of curing Parkinson's disease and diabetes but raises ethical concerns about the limits on human life. Six of the court's 11 justices upheld a 2005 law allowing embryonic stem cell research and turned down a petition filed that same year by then-Attorney General Claudio Fontelles, who argued the law was unconstitutional because it violates the right to life.

Brazil mulls new taxes for health-official
Reuters , 05/18/2008

The Brazilian government on Monday will decide on a tax increase to finance health spending after Congress voted down a key financial transaction tax in December, a senior government official said over the weekend. The government is considering increasing a tax on tobacco as well as creating a new tax with a 0.08 percent rate on financial transactions, said Jose Mucio Monteiro, minister for institutional affairs.

Blacks to outnumber whites in Brazil
The Associated Press, 05/13/2008

Blacks will outnumber whites in Brazil this year for the first time since slavery was abolished, but the income gap between the two groups may take another 50 years to bridge, according to a government study released Tuesday. The government's Applied Institute of Economic Research said Brazil, which has the world's second-largest black population after Nigeria, is decades away from racial equality despite public policies aimed at decreasing the gap.

April

Brazil to unveil plan to stimulate industry-official
Reuters, 04/06/2008

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will announce in the next few days a plan to stimulate the country's industry, including specific measures to support the exporting sector, Planning Minister Paulo Bernardo said on Sunday.

South American defense spending not arms race: Brazil
Reuters, 04/14/2008

South America has a right to beef up its armed forces but is not in an arms race, Brazil's defense minister said on Monday, as the region raises military spending on the back of high oil, food and metals prices. Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim, who is in Venezuela to discuss a planned South American security council, said the region needed military power to strengthen its presence on the world stage.

March

Brazil sends in police, sacrifices jobs to protect rainforest
Bloomberg.com, 03/03/2008

Antonio Laudir Carvalho Lima knows his chances of finding a new job are slim after Brazil began its biggest-ever crackdown on illegal logging in the Amazon rainforest.
Lima, 43, is vying with 6,000 other out-of-work laborers who lost their jobs after the Federal Police and environmental inspectors swept through the small Amazon town of Tailandia, seizing wood and fining sawmills and charcoal producers that couldn't prove their products came from legal sources.

February

Brazil’s church lobbies on stem cells
The Associated Press, 02/29/2008

Brazilian church officials urged the Supreme Court on Friday to reject embryonic stem cell research in the world's largest Roman Catholic country, a week before the justices rule on banning such research. The case stems from a 2005 motion by then-Attorney General Claudio Fontelles, who argued that a law passed that same year allowing embryonic stem cell research is unconstitutional because it violates the right to life.

Happy families: An anti-poverty scheme invented in Latin America is winning converts worldwide
The Economist, 02/07/2008

Mention globalisation and most people think of goods heading across the world from East to West and dollars moving in the other direction. Yet globalisation works for ideas too. Take Brazil's Bolsa Família (“Family Fund”) anti-poverty scheme, the largest of its kind in the world. Known in development jargon as a “conditional cash transfer” programme, it was modelled partly on a similar scheme in Mexico.

January

‘Minister of Ideas’ Tries to Put Brazil’s Future in Focus
The New York Times, 02/02/2008

When Roberto Mangabeira Unger looks at Brazil, the country of his birth, he sees a “big, seething caldron of life, whose most salient characteristic is its vitality.” But Mr. Unger, a 60-year-old Harvard law professor, also sees the people of Brazil as ambivalent about the idea of becoming a great country that “would open a unique path in the history of the world.” Mr. Unger is now serving the president as his minister for strategic affairs, a post many have referred to as the “minister of ideas.”

Holocaust carnival float shocks in Brazil
ABC News, 01/30/2008

Jewish groups in Brazil have expressed disgust over a controversial float to appear in Brazil's upcoming carnival parade that depicts dead victims of the Nazi Holocaust. The display, by the Unidos da Viradouro school, will be sandwiched among 11 others that are to parade along the city's carnival avenue on Sunday. Its creator defended the float, which will move along under the theme "It's Horrifying". "It's a very respectful float. It's going to depict it [the Holocaust] as a sort of alarm, so that it never be repeated," the creator, Paulo Barros, said. "I believe the carnival is also a way of showing what happens in the world," he said.

Half million Brazilians seen killed in decade
Reuters, 01/29/2008

Nearly half a million Brazilians were murdered in the past decade but the homicide rate is gradually falling due to better social welfare, more policing and fewer firearms, a study said on Tuesday. In the 10 years from 1996 to 2006, around 465,000 people were murdered, according to a study published by two aid groups and the federal government. The vast majority were shot. Gang-related violence routinely shakes Brazil's major cities, temporarily shutting down neighborhoods and killing innocent bystanders.

December

Brazil Fails to Free UN Hostage From Amazon Indians, CBN Says
Bloomberg 12/11/2007

Brazil's National Indian Foundation failed to obtain the release of a United Nations official and four other people held hostage by the Cinta Larga tribe in the Amazonian northern state of Rondonia, CBN radio said today. Marcio Meira, president of Funai, as the foundation is known, yesterday met with leaders of the tribe and plans to return to the reservation today, the radio said.

Brazilian politics: Sex, sleaze and taxes
The Economist 12/04/2007

As the president of the Senate, Renan Calheiros was perhaps the most powerful ally of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil's legislature. Seven months ago, the media, acting on tip-offs from the federal police, accused him of getting a lobbyist for a construction firm to make regular child-maintenance payments to his former mistress. On December 4th Mr Calheiros finally resigned his post.

Troubled Brazilian speaker quits
BBC News 12/04/2007

The president of the Brazilian Senate has resigned before a vote that could have led to his expulsion after a long-running corruption scandal. Renan Calheiros, an ally of President Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva, was accused of using third parties to buy two radio stations and a newspaper. He announced his decision to resign in a speech to the Senate a short time before the vote was to take place.

November

Brazil leader starts rehab on slums
Associated Press 11/30/2007

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited a teeming hillside shantytown Friday to launch a multimillion-dollar program to build an outdoor elevator, sewage systems, improve roads and upgrade housing for slum residents. Silva is the first Brazilian president to visit the Cantagalo shantytown or "favela," perched above the upscale beach districts of Copacabana and Ipanema. The president arrived at the hillside community under heavy police guard. Access to the area was shut down as police occupied strategic points in the often violent shantytown, controlled by heavily armed drug gangs.

Brazil teen's alleged rape underscores human rights problems in prisons, lawmaker says
International Herald Tribune 11/26/2007

The alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl while she was imprisoned for weeks with nearly two dozen men underscores widespread human rights abuses in Brazil's corrections system, a lawmaker said Monday ahead of a congressional investigation of the scandal.
Arrested recently on theft charges and locked up with 21 men in northern Para state, the teenager reported they would let her eat only in return for sex. The scandal touched off nationwide outrage over the treatment of women prisoners and authorities' failings to protect the girl in Para, where separate jails for men and women do not exist in most towns.

Brazil military in need of new weapons - report
Reuters 11/26/2007

Brazil's armed forces, the largest military in Latin America, are badly equipped, demoralized over pay and stuffed with generals, according to a report by news magazine Veja. The forces are facing their worst crisis because the government has failed to make them a priority and to realize the role they should play in national affairs, political scientist Geraldo Cavagnari of Campinas State University is quoted as saying in the leading Brazilian weekly.

To cut illegal abortions, Brazil offers free 'morning after' pills
USA Today 11/19/2007

In a bid to cut the number of illegal abortions and unwanted pregnancies, Brazilian authorities are pressing ahead with some novel (and controversial) tactics: Handing out "morning after" pills at subway stops in Sao Paolo state, the country's most populous, offering 90% discounts on contraceptive pills at pharmacies, passing out condoms to students and offering free vasectomies.

Brazil police killings condemned
BBC News 11/15/2007

A senior United Nations official has harshly criticised police in Brazil for involvement in large numbers of extra-judicial killings. Philip Alston, the UN's rapporteur on the issue, was speaking at the end of an 11-day fact-finding visit. He said there was strong evidence that many of the 694 people killed by police in the first half of the year in Rio de Janeiro were extra-judicial killings.

Brazil's Aids policy 'remarkable'
BBC News 11/14/2007

Bargaining with pharmaceutical firms to bring down the price of Aids drugs and producing cheap generic versions has saved Brazil $1bn, a study has shown. Infection rates in the Latin American country have been kept at a similar level to the US, the report finds. And more than 180,000 Brazilians have access to Aids treatment.

Politics in Brazil: Laws for the lawmakers
The Economist, 11/08/2007

The president of Brazil sits at the top of one of the great spoils systems in democratic politics. In addition to the usual power to place allies in ministries, he has more than 20,000 jobs in his gift, including some corner offices in state-controlled companies such as Petrobras, Brazil's energy giant. The political value of these baubles is all the greater since presidents must work hard to command a working majority in the federal Congress, where none of the 20 parties represented holds more than 18% of the seats.

October

Brazil may raise military salaries as much as 35%
Bloomberg, 10/31/2007

Brazil's government is considering a proposal to increase the salaries of members of the military by as much as 35 percent, Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said. The proposal would boost budgeted spending by 1.7 billion reais ($970 million) this year, 5.9 billion reais in 2008 and 8.3 billion reais in 2009, Jobim told lower house lawmakers today. Jobim plans to discuss the proposal with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva next week, he said.

Brazil wins the cup
The Economist, 10/31/2007

This victory [to host the 2014 World Cup] gives the country a chance to get even with the other rapidly developing BRIC countries (Russia, India and China) on one score. China will host the Olympics next year; India has the Commonwealth Games in 2010; the Winter Olympics will go to Russia in 2014. For any big, fast-growing economy with lousy infrastructure and a sprinkling of political corruption, it seems that hosting a big sporting event is a must these days.

Brazil to host 2014 World Cup
CNN.com, 10/30/2007

Brazil has been awarded the 2014 World Cup finals, FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced Tuesday. Blatter said Brazil now has "not only the right, but the responsibility to organize FIFA's World Cup 2014." Blatter then handed the World Cup trophy to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who flew in for the announcement."Soccer is not only a sport for us," Lula said. "It's more than that: Soccer for us is a passion, a national passion."

Brazil’s central bank nominates 3 new directors
Reuters, 10/26/2007

The bank indicated Maria Celina Berardinelli Arraes as the director of foreign affairs, replacing Paulo Vieira da Cunha. It also nominated Alvir Alberto Hoffmann as the regulation director, replacing Paulo Sergio Cavalheiro. Both of the outgoing directors asked to leave their posts for personal reasons, the bank said. "The new names are not known by the market but it's possible to say that there shouldn't be any change in the central bank policy, because you have people of weight continuing there" said Roberto Padovani, chief economist at WestLB in São Paulo.

Brazil's Lula Signs Decree Creating State-Run Media Company
Bloomberg, 10/25/2007

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed today a decree creating a state-run run media company to produce and distribute programs sponsored by the federal government. Lula is following the steps of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who in May started the TVes government-funded channel that airs news and cultural programming favorable to his administration. Lula is seeking to reduce the influence of Organizacoes Globo, Brazil's biggest media company, which has produced stories unfavorable to his government, said Andre Cesar, a political analyst in Brasilia.

Brazil unemployment falls in September amid accelerating growth, inflationary pressure
International Herald Tribune, 10/25/2007

Brazil's jobless rate fell in September as the economy charged forward, the government reported Thursday, but the nation's central bank warned inflationary pressures could be rising. Unemployment fell last month to 9 percent from 9.5 percent in August in Latin America's largest country and is down from 10 percent from September 2006, the Brazilian Census Bureau said.

Brazil’s senate president takes leave
Financial Times, 10/15/2007

Renan Calheiros, president of Brazil’s senate, has stood down temporarily after being bombarded by corruption allegations for nearly four months, clearing the way for the government to negotiate approval of two critical budgetary measures. Mr Calheiros has taken a 45-day leave of absence. But his return, if it takes place, is likely to drive a wedge into the government’s alliance in congress, raising doubts over the administration’s ability to pass laws during the remaining three years of president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s second consecutive four-year term.

Reforms essential for Brazil’s long-term growth
Financial Times, 10/09/2007

Brazil, long regarded as the laggard of the Bric economies, appears finally to be catching up. Year-on-year growth in the second quarter was 5.4 per cent – still some way behind Russia, India or China, but more than double the average rate of annual economic growth in Brazil over the past two decades.

Brazil landless threaten to stop CVRD railroad
Reuters, 10/08/2007

A group of Brazilian landless peasants threatened on Monday to block a railroad run by mining giant CVRD (Companhia Vale do Rio Doce) and halt iron ore shipments from Carajas area in a protest to demand the company's renationalization. The radical leftist Landless Workers' Movement also said 3.6 million people voted for the return of CVRD to state hands in last month's informal, nonbinding vote organized by it and other groups.

September

Brazil’s Senate clears leader accused of taking bribes
The Associated Press, 9/12/2007

Brazil's Senate decided not to expel the body's president, absolving a key ally of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of charges he took bribes for helping steer government contracts to a construction company. Senators voted 40-35 with six abstentions Wednesday against ousting Renan Calheiros, who was accused of accepting US$8,000 a month from the company. Calheiros denied the charges and had refused to resign. He successfully fought for a secret ballot — keeping the vote on his fate out of view of a public already weary and suspicious of politicians after a series of corruption scandals that have already toppled several Silva allies.

August

Criminal charges for Lula’s aides
The Economist , 8/30/2007

Brazil’s Supreme Court indicted 40 people, including the former right-hand man of Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and the former senior leadership of his Workers' Party (PT) on charges that included corruption, racketeering and money-laundering. The case marked the first time Brazil's highest court has ever brought criminal charges against politicians—and it could finally tarnish the president's scandal-proof image.

Brazil politicians targeted by Supreme Court
AP, 8/27/07

Brazil's Supreme Court has agreed to rule on corruption charges against former Cabinet members in a bribes-for-votes scandal that severely damaged the reputation of the president's party. The most prominent defendant, former chief of staff Jose Dirceu, helped engineer President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's historic 2002 election. The court late Monday agreed to hold a trial on the charges, which carry a possible 12 year prison sentence, and will consider Tuesday whether to add conspiracy charges.

Brazil unveils strategy on crime
BBC, 8/21/07

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has announced a plan costing over $3bn to tackle the high levels of crime in the country's cities. The plan will focus on improving the quality of policing and social programmes and education. It also provides funds for building more prisons to tackle overcrowding. Viva Rio, an organisation which works to combat violence in Rio de Janeiro, has given a cautious welcome to the government's proposals. "This is the right path, for sure," said Viva Rio's director Rubem Cesar Fernandes—who discussed his organizations work and research at a conference on urban crime and violence sponsored by the Brazil Institute earlier this year.

Brazil to offer free sex changes
Associated Press, 8/17/07

Brazilian judges have ruled that a sex change is a constitutional right, so the government says it will provide the operation and treatment — gratis. The Health Ministry said today that it would not appeal Wednesday's ruling that gave the government 30 days to offer the procedure or face daily fines of $5,000. Patients must be at least 21 years old and diagnosed as transsexuals with no other personality disorders and must undergo psychological evaluation for at least two years.

Thousands march to denounce Brazil Gov’t
Associated Press, 8/4/07

Thousands of Brazilians marched in South America's biggest city on Saturday to denounce President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government as corrupt and indifferent. Police estimated that about 3,000 demonstrators participated in the march down Sao Paulo's skyscraper-lined Avenida Paulista. Smaller demonstrations were staged in the capital of Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba. Protesters, many dressed in black, sang Brazil's national anthem and carried posters demanding Silva's ouster.

Fight in the favelas
The Economist, 8/2/07

THE bomb squad has packed up. Most of the 25,000-strong force of federal troops and state police, replete with riot gear and sniffer dogs, has returned to normal duties. For the last two weeks of July the Pan American games turned Rio de Janeiro into one of the world's most closely guarded places. Elsewhere, the suffocating security might make locals nervous. But Cariocas, as Rio's residents are known, rejoiced as the usual hectic pace of murder, assault and car theft slowed. They worry about what might happen now that the athletes have gone home.

Throttle error likely in Brazil plane crash
Reuters, 8/1/07

A lever used to control engine speed was in the wrong position when a Brazilian plane crashed last month and likely was a major cause of the country's worst air accident, according to flight recorder transcripts published by a newspaper Wednesday.Data from the flight recorder suggests that the thrust lever for one of the turbines was in "accelerate" position, Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper reported.

July

Brazil’s deadly land wars put indigenous leaders in firing line
The Independent (UK), 7/23/07

It was 6.30pm when the Brazilian indigenous leader Ortiz Lopes was called to his front door in Coronel Sapucaia, in the frontier state of Mato Grosso do Sul. According to his wife, the head of the embattled Guarani-Kaiowa people heard an unfamiliar voice calling his name from the other side of the door. He only had time to ask who it was before he was shot dead and the gunman delivered his message: "The farmers sent me to make it even with you."

Gas pipeline in Brazil seen as model
Christian Science Monitor, 7/23/07

After years of opposition, a plan to transport gas 400 miles from its source at a clearing called Urucu, passing 80 species of rare orchids on its way to the Amazonas state capital of Manaus, has been met with reserved praise, even from hard-core activists. The project by the Brazilian state-controlled company Petrobras is emerging as a model for reducing environmental and social impact, say many observers. And it comes as dozens of other oil companies are looking to explore an expanse that, while among the world's most biologically diverse, also happens to be the largest unexplored region with hydrocarbon potential after Antarctica.

Brazil’s air woes turn international
Associated Press, 7/23/07

Brazil's aviation crisis rippled overseas, stranding passengers at several U.S. airports and giving foreigners a taste of the chaos and anxiety Brazilian travelers have felt for months. Aviation analysts cite factors from political cronyism to chronic underfunding in Brazil's aviation system as possible contributors to two major air disasters in less than a year. The air force blamed Saturday's radar outage on an electrical failure and said it is investigating whether sabotage was to blame. The failure came just hours after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced measures to shore up the country's ailing aviation system.

Brazil’s aviation crisis deepens
Boston Globe, 7/22/07

A radar failure over the Amazon forced Brazil to turn back or ground a string of international flights yesterday, deepening a national aviation crisis just hours after the president unveiled safety measures prompted by the country's deadliest air disaster. Further shaking Brazilians' confidence, authorities said they had mistaken a piece of the fuselage from Tuesday's accident for the flight recorder and sent it to a laboratory for analysis.

In Brazil, a wave of corruption cases
Washington Post, 7/14/07

The paper trail ends in an unmarked office in Brazil's federal police headquarters, where duffel bags full of confiscated files are heaped on the floor, waiting to be opened and analyzed. The bags have been piling up in recent months, byproducts of the sensationally brazen corruption scandals that have been multiplying, one after the other. The parade of disgraced public figures under investigation seems endless -- from government ministers to top lawmakers to members of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's family.

Brazil to revive nuclear project
BBC, 7/11/07

Brazil's president has pledged to revive a long-stalled project to build the country's third nuclear reactor and also a nuclear submarine. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said hundreds of millions of extra dollars would be made available for the project over the next eight years. Work on the third reactor for uranium enrichment stopped in the 1980s over security fears and lack of funds. Brazil, which is heavily dependent on hydro-electricity, could face energy shortages in a couple of years if generating capacity is not increased, analysts say.

Budget democracy not new in Brazil
BBC, 7/6/07

The UK government is proposing to give people more influence over the way local council budgets in England are spent - an idea that has been around for some time in Brazil. The best known example of this is in Porto Alegre, the capital of the state of Rio Grande Do Sul, and a city which has one of the highest standards of living in the country. Essentially the scheme aims to involve thousands of people in making decisions about at least some of the spending by their local authority.

Loan changes in Brazil motivate new buyers and home building
New York Times, 7/5/07

Brazil’s newfound economic stability and changes in lending laws are for the first time making it possible for the country’s working poor to buy their own homes. And using money that has been pouring in from foreigners who sense a lucrative investment — $4.8 billion since September 2005 — the country’s construction and real estate companies are building as fast as they can. For years, Brazil’s poor had little access to credit. But since Lula became president in 2003 [access to credit has expanded as] interest rates have tumbled to 12 percent from 25 percent and appear set to continue falling.

Brazil gets cut-price AIDS drug
BBC, 7/5/07

Brazil has accepted an offer from a manufacturer of an important anti-Aids drug to cut its price by around 30%. The deal with Abbott over its drug Kaletra was hailed by Brazil's health minister as an example to other companies around the world. In May, it broke the patent on another Aids drug and now imports a cheaper generic version from India. The move will save Brazil around $10m a year.

June

Lazy, hazy days for lucky Lula
Economist, 6/28/07

Better times sap the will to reform, among government and opposition alike. These are strange times in Brazil. Every morning, the country's main newspapers bring fresh instalments in a slew of corruption scandals lapping around the government of President Lula. The government seems trapped in torpidity. Six months into his second term, Lula has just completed his cabinet, adding a 37th minister. he government's agenda is unambitious, and its reaction to events often tardy and fumbling. Take the chaos that has gripped Brazil's airports since October as a result of go-slows by disgruntled air-traffic controllers.

Brazil police kill 19 suspected drug traffickers in Rio slum siege battle
Associated Press, 6/27/07

Police backed by helicopters raided a notorious Rio shantytown and killed 19 suspected drug traffickers in pitched gunbattles. Police recovered 13 bodies and six more were left, apparently by the drug gangs, inside a van parked outside a police station near the scene of Wednesday's fighting. The assault led to the worst urban combat in a two-month siege of the Alemao shantytown, where fighting has killed at least 40 people and injured more than 80 since May. Authorities sent 1,350 officers and elite federal police to the slum long ruled by gangs. They were met with grenades and fusillades from automatic weapons.

Brazil oil workers approve strike
Associated Press, 6/27/07

Workers in several units of state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA have voted to go on strike over salaries and pay, their union said Wednesday. Petrobras workers in the states of Rio Grande do Norte, Amazonas, Pernambuco, Paraiba, Rio Grande do Sul, as well as at the Duque de Caxias refinery in Rio de Janeiro state, voted in favor of the work stoppage beginning July 5, said union official Alessandra Murteira. The idea is to pressure the company to present a new plan to better distribute salaries and positions, the federation of Brazilian oil worker unions said. In related news: “Brazil aims to build refineries, boost gas output”; and French energy company “Suez eyeing $5 billion Brazil energy asset”.

Work to resume on Brazil reactor
BBC, 6/26/07

Brazil's national energy council has recommended restarting a long-stalled and controversial project to build the country's third nuclear reactor.

Brazil to offer morning-after pills
BBC, 6/26/07

Brazil's government has added "morning after" pills to its newly expanded birth control program in hopes of helping poor people reduce unwanted pregnancies and dangerous illegal abortions. Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao announced the addition a month after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the government would provide cheap birth control pills at 10,000 drug stores across Latin America's biggest country.

Brazil’s Lula popularity still high
Reuters, 6/26/07

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's popularity rose six months into his second term despite growing violence in cities and a series of corruption scandals in national politics, an opinion poll showed on Tuesday. Brazilians were pleased with the country's strong economic performance, rising wages and social welfare programs, according to a Sensus opinion poll published by the National Transport Confederation. Lula's personal approval rating rose to 64 percent, its highest rate since February 2005, from 63.7 percent in April.

Lula says air travel order restored in Brazil
Reuters, 6/25/07

Six days of chaos at Brazil's airports have come to an end, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Monday, after the government sacked 14 air traffic controllers and ordered two of their leaders arrested. "There are no more delays due to air control problems," Lula said on his weekly radio program.

Brazil to resettle Palestinian refugees from Iraq
Associated Press, 6/21/07

About 100 Palestinians who fled Iraq more than three years ago and lived in squalid conditions at a refugee camp will be resettled in Brazil, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said. A total of 96 refugees are expected to arrive by the end of September and will be resettled in several cities across Brazil, the statement said.

Testy passengers storm Brazil Airports
Associated Press, 6/21/07

Authorities beefed up security at airports across Brazil on Thursday to protect airline workers from fist-waving passengers angered by flight delays, the latest problem to hit the country's aviation system. Passengers shouted and tried to storm ticket counters at Brazil's airports to demand transfers to other flights Wednesday night. The problems continued Thursday, with more than 400 of 1,100 flights scheduled between midnight and 3 p.m. delayed for more than an hour and about 100 others canceled.

In the Amazon, giving blood but getting nothing
New York Times, 6/20/07

As the Karitiana Indians remember it, the first researchers to draw their blood came here in the late 1970s. In 1996, another team visited, promising medicine if the Karitiana would just give more blood, so they dutifully lined up again. But the promise was never fulfilled. The indigenous peoples of the Amazon are ideal for certain types of genetic research because they are isolated and extremely close-knit populations, allowing geneticists to construct a more thorough pedigree and to track the transmission of illnesses down generations. The practice of collecting blood samples from Amazon Indians, though, has aroused widespread suspicions among Brazilians, who consider the practice “bio-piracy”

Brazil Indians team up with Google Earth to fight logging
Associated Press, 6/19/07

A Brazilian Indian tribe is linking up with Google Earth to try to capture vivid images that could help stop loggers and miners from deforesting the jungle and digging for gold on its vast Amazon reservation. Though the project is still in the planning stages for a remote area that doesn't even have Internet access yet, the tribe's chief and Google hope their unusual alliance will reduce illegal rainforest destruction where government enforcement is spotty at best. Eventually, Chief Almir Narayamoga Surui envisions many of the 1,200 members of his Surui tribe using computers with satellite Internet connections and high-resolution images from Google Earth to police all corners of their 618,000-acre reservation.

Scandals sweep Brazil
LA Times, 6/19/07

It was the president's brother on the line, asking for cash. "Hey, get me two grand," Genival Inacio da Silva demanded of an alleged gambling kingpin, according to transcripts of wiretaps published here this month. The telephone intercepts were part of a federal police operation known as Checkmate, which has led to the arrests of dozens of people in a slot-machine-distribution scam. Checkmate is just the latest in a chain of theatrically named scandals that have come to dominate Brazilian headlines and tarnish the image of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, sometimes called the Teflon president because of his aptitude in shaking off scandal. See a related BBC article.

Brazil’s FBI takes on corrupt bigwigs
Christian Science Monitor, 6/18/07

Brazil's Federal Police are not known for having a gentle approach, and the code names given to some of their high-profile operations confirm their hard-core tactics. The anti-graft operations have resulted in dozens of high-profile arrests, marking a potentially new phase in Brazil's seemingly endless fight against graft. For the first time in recent history the Federal Police and other watchdog bodies like the public prosecutor's office and the federal accounting court are taking serious aim at corruption, civil rights experts say.

Bending rules, breaking laws in Brazil
BBC, 6/18/07

A wide-ranging police investigation into the misuse of money for public works projects has targeted governors, an ex-governor, several mayors and ex-mayors as well as high-level state and federal employees. A government minister, who denies any wrongdoing, has resigned. The government has admitted that every year, billions of dollars are lost through fraud in tendering for public contracts.A vivid illustration of this is a picture, widely published in the Brazilian media, of a bridge with no connecting road serving as an improvised snooker hall. It was built, of course, with public money.

Brazil invests heavily to multiply natural gas production
Merco Press, 6/17/07

Petrobras is planning to invest 18 billion US dollars in the gas sector over the next four years, most of it in 2008, taking Brazil’s current production from 27.5 million cubic meters in 2006 to 70 million cubic meters by 2011. Petrobras and Algerian state-owned Sonatrach, signed at the end of May a memorandum of understanding which includes among other projects cooperation for the Brazilian import of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Raids, checkpoints in Rio slums as PanAm Games near
Reuters, 6/14/07

Hundreds of police and troops from Brazil's elite security force raided a Rio de Janeiro slum on Thursday, even searching children in an operation against gangs one month before the Pan American Games start in the city. Some foreign and local teams have expressed concern over athletes' safety due to daily gun battles between police and drug gangs. Rio authorities promised to step up occupations of dangerous slums and safeguard nearby roads.

Political roadblocks for cellulosic ethanol
Associated Press, 6/13/07

Growth of a new ethanol made from switchgrass and fast-growing trees could be limited by competition from corn growers, ethanol experts said.The fuel, called cellulosic ethanol, is not yet commercially available, but has been touted by President Bush, environmentalists, and venture capitalists as an efficient low-carbon fuel.The Bush administration has rolled out nearly $1 billion in funds to research and build new refineries to ethanol producers, including for cellulosic fuel, in an effort to cut reliance on foreign oil as well as greenhouse emissions.

Both sides say project is pivotal for Brazil
New York Times, 6/11/07

The eternal tension between Brazil’s need for economic growth and the damage that can cause to the environment are nowhere more visible than here in this corner of the western Amazon region. More than one-quarter of this rugged frontier state, Rondônia, has been deforested, the highest rate in the Amazon. Over the years, ranchers, miners and loggers have routinely invaded nature reserves and Indian reservations. Now a proposal to build an $11 billion hydroelectric project here on a river that may have the world’s most diverse fish stocks has set off a new controversy.

Millions stage gay parade in São Paulo
Reuters, 6/10/07

An estimated 3 million gays, lesbians and transvestites paraded down the main avenue of Brazil's business capital Sao Paulo on Sunday, showing their pride in a blaze of color and festive music, organizers said. For their 11th parade, the gays received official backing for the first time. Brazil's ministers for Tourism and Sport, Marta Suplicy and Orlando Silva, attended the parade. The governor of Sao Paulo state, Jose Serra, and city mayor Gilberto Kassab were also there. Sponsors included Brazil's state energy company Petrobras and the state-owned Caixa Economica Federal bank.

May

Brazil’s women at risk from unsafe abortions, says study
Reuters, 5/31/07

Some 1.2 million Brazilian women have been hospitalized in the last five years with infections, vaginal bleeding and other complications resulting from illegal abortions, said a report presented by health experts on Wednesday. Women in Brazil's relatively poor northeast seek unsafe illegal abortions at twice the rate of women in the wealthier south, said the study, published by the International Planned Parenthood Federation, or IPPH. Brazil prohibits abortion in most cases, but an outspoken new health minister prompted a nationwide debate several weeks ago when he said society must reconsider laws against abortion because they are hurting women. In a related article , Brazil plans to subsidize birth control.

Digging up the dirt
Economist, 5/31/07

The biggest celebrity in Brazil these days is not a football star or a telenovela heroine but the federal police force. In a string of spectacular operations with melodramatic names, the police have recently caught judges taking bribes to keep gambling halls in business, congressmen arranging the purchase of ambulances at inflated prices and a retailer smuggling in luxury goods. The latest is “Operation Razor”, an investigation into fraudulent public works that has cost the energy minister his job, implicated a dozen legislators, embarrassed several state governors and now threatens Renan Calheiros, the president of the Senate, an important ally of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Brazil to boost police presence in violent cities
Reuters, 5/31/07

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva approved a plan on Thursday to beef up regional police forces and authorize the use of special national security troops in Brazil's 11 most violent cities. A justice ministry spokeswoman said the plan, will now be presented to the 11 cities -- including Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and the capital city of Brasilia -- and opened to public debate for the next 30 days. The finance and planning ministries have yet to earmark funding for the plan, which proposes sending in the paramilitary National Public Security Force, hiring more state police officers, improving training, raising police base pay and building prisons for women and youths.

Brazil Farmers are stymied by high costs
Wall Street Journal, 5/30/07

Brazilian farmers just can't get a break. Just as their spending power rises with the local currency, crop costs nearly double. "If fertilizer costs rose as much as the [Brazilian] real versus the dollar, they'd be fine," said Glauco Monte, a consultant for risk analysis firm F.C. Stone in Sao Paulo. "But fertilizer costs have ballooned so much that the gains in the real are relatively useless." Brazil is a net importer of fertilizer, feeding its massive farm sector. The fertilizing goods, which are priced in dollars, have risen on Chinese and Indian demand as well as on U.S. demand from farmers growing crops such as corn for biofuel production.

Brazil to subsidize birth control
Associated Press, 5/28/07

Just weeks after Pope Benedict XVI denounced government-backed contraception in a visit to Brazil, the president unveiled a program Monday to provide cheap birth control pills at 10,000 drug stores across the country. Brazil already hands out free condoms and birth control pills at government-run pharmacies. But many poor people in Latin America's largest country don't go to those pharmacies, so Silva's administration decided to offer the pills at drastically reduced prices at private drug stores. The price for a year's supply of birth control pills under the new program would be $2.40, and anyone – rich or poor – can buy the pills with a government-issued ID card.

Brazil could start building high-speed rail linking Rio and São Paulo by 2008
Associated Press, 5/28/07

Construction on a US$9 billion (€6.7 billion) high-speed rail linking Brazil's two biggest cities could start as early as next year, the transportation ministry said Monday. Brazil's government may hold a tender in August for the construction of the 403-kilometer (250-mile) rail link between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Brazilian, South Korean, French and Italian companies have shown interest in building the rail link. The high-speed link is expected to be built in seven years.

Brazil’s Senate leader denies receiving payoffs from construction company
Associated Press, 5/28/07

Senate president Renan Calheiros forcibly denied allegations published in the latest edition of Veja, a major newsweekly, that appeared to widen a corruption scandal reaching into the inner circle of Brazil's government. Veja reported that the Mendes Junior construction company paid rent on an apartment for Calheiros in the capital Brasilia, as well as a monthly stipend for his 3-year-old daughter born out of wedlock. The magazine did not name its sources.

Brazil’s Lula skirts scandal, his alliance may not
Reuters, 5/23/07

Brazil's latest corruption scandal is unlikely to undermine President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's popularity but could strain his alliance and slow his legislative agenda in Congress. Energy Minister Silas Rondeau resigned on Tuesday over accusations he took a kickback from a government contractor. In a broader crackdown dubbed Operation Razor, police had arrested almost 50 politicians, lobbyists and businessmen on suspicion of embezzling money from government contracts.

Brazil union head cites poor training as cause for air traffic problems
Associated Press, 5/22/07

The president of the Brazilian flight controllers union said that poor worker training and radar coverage contributed to the country's deadliest plane crash that killed 154 people. Testifying on Tuesday before a congressional commission investigating Brazil's troubled air traffic control system, Jorge Botelho said aviation authorities share responsibility for the midair collision for not adequately schooling controllers in English. He said the country's radar coverage also has various blind spots. For more information on Brazil’s air traffic problems see the Post’s article.

Brazil presses AIDS drug makers to cut prices
NPR Audio, 5/21/07

Brazil's president issues a license allowing the country to purchase a generic version of an AIDS drug, despite a U.S. company's patent. Thailand has taken similar steps. Both countries say they're simply taking advantage of the legal options available to them. The drug companies say their intellectual property rights are being violated.

Telefónica joins battle for share of Brazil bonanza
Financial Times, 5/17/07

Fixed telephony has reached maturity and growth in mobile markets in the developed world is slowing. But mobile growth in emerging markets is still strong, and Brazil is no exception.

Brazilian rancher guilty in nun’s slaying
LA Times, 5/16/07

A jury convicted a rancher Tuesday of ordering the slaying of Sister Dorothy Stang, a U.S. missionary who championed the cause of the Amazon's landless peasants. Human rights experts hailed the decision as a long-awaited break after years of impunity afforded to large landowners in the rain forest region. "Maybe this is the beginning of justice," said, a councilman for the Amazonian town of Anapu, where Stang had lived for more than two decades.

Pope's abortion comments changed by Vatican
LA Times, 5/11/07

Fallout from comments Benedict XVI made Wednesday about abortion and excommunication has been so intense that the Vatican has simply changed the record. It all began when the pope, in a news conference aboard his flight to Brazil, appeared to endorse the excommunication of Roman Catholic politicians who vote to legalize abortion. Every time the pope speaks, improvising, the [Vatican] Secretariat of State reviews and cleans up his remarks," said the papal spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi. For more coverage on the Pope's visit to Brazil see the NY Times'; Associated Press'; or Reuters' articles .

ILO report shows Brazil’s racial income gap narrows
Associated Press, 5/9/07

Income inequality between races in Brazil has narrowed over the past decade but a black woman still earns only half what a white man makes, a United Nations report showed on Thursday. The difference in income between blacks and whites in Brazil narrowed by 31 percent between 1995 and 2005, according to an International Labor Organization study of global workplace discrimination. Still, the median income for black women was 316 reais ($156) a month in 2005 versus 632 reais for white men. Black men earned less than white women and almost two-thirds the pay of white men in 2005, the latest year for which data was available.

Brazil bypasses patent on HIV treatment
Reuters, 5/7/07

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva authorised Brazil at the weekend to break the patent on an HIV/AIDS drug made by Merck and import a generic version from India instead.Silva issued a “compulsory license” that would bypass Merck’s patent on the AIDS drug efavirenz, a day after the Brazilian government rejected Merck’s offer to sell the drug at a 30 percent discount.Merck had offered to sell the drug for $1.10 per pill, down from $1.57, while Brazil was seeking to purchase the drug at 65 cents a pill, the same price Thailand pays.

April

Brazil electoral court clears Silva
Associated Press, 4/25/07

Brazil's highest electoral court ruled Tuesday President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was not involved in an alleged plot to buy damaging information about opposition politicians before his re-election last October. The autonomous, nonpartisan election court unanimously cleared Silva, saying there was not enough evidence to link him to the scandal. Silva could have been stripped of power if the judges had ruled he was guilty, according to a statement from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal posted on its Web site.

Brazil ponders legal rights of frozen embryos
Reuters, 4/21/07

Brazil's Supreme Court opened its chambers to the public for the first time on Friday as it heard testimony over whether medical researchers using stem cells from frozen embryos were violating a constitutional right to life. Brazil only began to allow embryonic stem cell research in 2005 when Congress passed legislation known as the biosecurity law. The public hearing comes shortly after Brazil's health minister touched off a media frenzy by saying the country should hold a public debate and a plebiscite over abortion -abortion is legal in Brazil only if a pregnant woman has been raped or risks death.

Brazilian air control blamed for crash
Associated Press, 4/21/07

The U.S. company that owned the executive jet involved in a mid-air collision with a commericial airliner blamed faulty Brazilian air traffic control for the accident that killed 154 people, according to a report obtained by the Associated Press on Saturday. In a 154-page report to Brazilian federal police this month, New York-based ExcelAire said an analysis of air traffic control transmissions and flight recorders in the Legacy "confirmed that both planes were freed by Air Traffic Control to fly at the same altitude and the same path, in opposite directions.".

In Rio, death comes early
Washington Post, 4/16/07

The favelas are statistically the most violent sections of Rio, a city where the number of juvenile deaths attributed to violence far exceeds that of many war zones. From 2002 through 2006, 729 Israeli and Palestinian minors were killed as a result of the violence in Israel and the occupied territories, according to B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group. During the same period in Rio de Janeiro, 1,857 minors were reported murdered, according to the Institute of Public Security, a state research center. Follow the link for more information on the security situation in Rio.

The chaos in Brazil’s blue skies
Time, 4/3/07

For months now, Brazil's air traffic control system has teetered on the brink of collapse. Lack of investment in technology, infrastructure and personnel has condemned the system to a slow demise, while poor administration and weak leadership have exacerbated problems revealed last fall after a U.S.-owned private jet clipped the underside of a Boeing 737 and sent it spiraling to the ground in the Amazon rainforest, killing 154 people. Amid mounting delays and anger, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva quickly caved in to the controllers demands and ordered a gradual civilian takeover of the military-run system. Follow the link to read the Financial Times article.

Brazil’s air traffic controllers back at work after 6-hour strike
Reuters, 4/1/07

Brazilian air traffic controllers returned to work early Saturday after a six-hour strike, and flights slowly began ferrying out thousands of stranded travelers from the country’s airports. The controllers returned to work after the government agreed to a series of demands, including pay raises. The police were called to major airports to help deal with outraged passengers. In Rio de Janeiro, travelers broke computers at airline counters.

March

Brazil to offer free internet access to Amazon tribes
Associated Press, 3/30/07

Brazil's government said it will provide free Internet access to native Indian tribes in the Amazon in an effort to help protect the world's biggest rain forest. The environment and communications ministers signed an agreement Thursday with the Forest People's Network to provide an Internet signal by satellite to 150 communities, including many reachable only by riverboat, allowing them to report illegal logging and ranching, request help and coordinate efforts to preserve the forest.

Brazil expected to announce plans to complete stalled nuclear plant
Associated Press, 3/24/07

Brazil's president could announce next week a decision to complete construction of a third nuclear plant that has been delayed for years, Folha de S. Paulo, Brazil's biggest newspaper, reported Saturday. "I think now we're going ahead," Science and Technology Minister Sergio Resende told the daily. Mines and Energy Minister Silas Rondeau defended completion of the plant to the Senate last week, saying Brazil could not abandon a "competitive advantage" it holds with its nuclear program.

Ronaldinho becoming the face of soccer
New York Times, 3/26/07

Ronaldinho ambled into the room and apologized for being late. “Traffic,” he said in Spanish as he took a seat at the dining room table in his house, which overlooks the Mediterranean Sea in a holiday village about 20 minutes outside Barcelona. Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, his full name, is also known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho. He took the diminutive, meaning little Ronaldo, because Brazil already had a star named Ronaldo.

In a coffee-mad city, the bitter with the sweet
New York Times, 3/25/07

In Rio de Janeiro, every street corner offers an opportunity for refreshment: juice bars, açaí stands, open-air bars and of course botequins. These neighborhood institutions are part café, part lunch counter and part bistro; the place for a quick salgadinho, one of the salty snacks like fried balls of salt cod, and a cafezinho, the little cup of coffee beloved by Brazilians.

Brazil’s top TV preachers land in hot water in Miami
New York Times, 3/19/07

In their heyday, Estevam and Sônia Hernandes were the Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker of Brazil, on television preaching a gospel of material success and living a life to match. But that was before they were arrested in Miami in January and charged with illegally smuggling cash into the United States, including $9,000 concealed in a Bible.

Groups in Brazil aim to call military torturers to account
New York Times, 3/16/07

Frustrated by their own government’s timidity but encouraged by recent court rulings in Argentina and Chile, Brazilian human rights groups are seeking to overturn an amnesty for human rights abuses that went into effect in 1979, when a right-wing military dictatorship ruled this nation. A family of five jailed earlier in the 1970s has filed a civil action against Col. Carlos Alberto Brilhante Ustra, who was then the commander of Center for Operations for Internal Defense here.

Collor returns to Brazilian Senate
Associated Press, 3/15/07

Former President Fernando Collor returned to the same Senate that helped drive him from office 15 years ago, telling Brazilian lawmakers Thursday that the move to impeach him was "a great farce." Collor, who won a Senate seat in October after his eight-year ban from public office expired, made his first speech to the body on Thursday - nearly two decades after he became Brazil's first elected president following a 21-year military dictatorship.

Brazil slave labor could grow if president signs bill
Associated Press, 3/15/07

Human rights activists fear that a measure approved by Brazil's Congress could worsen the plight of debt slaves in Latin America's largest nation. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva faces a Friday deadline on whether to sign, veto or change the bill, which includes an amendment that would strip government auditors of some of their power to investigate relationships between employers and employees, and to fine abusers.

Brazil government invests in culture of Hip-Hop
New York Times, 3/14/07

In a classroom at a community center near a slum here, a street-smart teacher offers a dozen young students tips on how to improve their graffiti techniques. One floor below, in a small soundproof studio, another instructor is teaching a youthful group of would-be rappers how to operate digital recording and video equipment. This is one of Brazil’s Culture Points, fruit of an official government program that is helping to spread hip-hop culture across a vast nation of 185 million people. With small grants of $60,000 or so to cores of community groups on the outskirts of Brazil’s cities, the Ministry of Culture hopes to channel what it sees as the latent creativity of the country’s poor into new forms of expression.

Brazil anti-terror law aims at criminal gangs
Reuters Alertnet, 3/13/07

Brazil has drafted a new anti-terrorism law but says it is more likely to target violent criminal gangs than Islamic militants believed by the United States to raise illegal funds in the country. The law would give stiffer sentences to those who set off bombs or attack buses or planes for political gain and to those who finance such crimes, said Jose Cunha Couto, a member of the presidential security cabinet.

Mother Tongue
Business Week, 3/13/07

In São Paulo, Brazil, the Museum of the Portuguese Language vividly unites language and cultural identity. "What are the roots of your language?" I ask a group of students waiting to enter the Museum of the Portuguese Language in São Paulo's Estação da Luz (Station of Light). Their friendly, hesitant responses—"Latin?" "Portuguese!" "English," "German?"—are a choral validation of the essential nature of this new museum. These kids are from SENAC São Paulo, part of a national network of vocational trade schools.

Lula set to miss his own cabinet deadline
Financial Times, 3/1/07

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil is likely to miss another self-imposed deadline on Friday by failing to name the ministers who will implement policies in his second four-year mandate. The delays, caused by political horse trading, have left large parts of his government treading water and will test Mr Lula da Silva’s promise of 5 per cent annual economic growth. He is now expected to wait until after the national convention on March 11 of the PMDB, the largest party in Congress and a fractious agglomeration of regional interests.

Brazil official charged in NYC with $11.6 M theft
Associated Press, 3/8/07

A Brazilian congressman, plagued with corruption claims in his home country, has been charged here with stealing more than $11.6 million (€8.8 million) from a public works project in Brazil and then moving it through a New York bank. The congressman, Paulo Maluf, who is also the former mayor and governor of the city and state of Sao Paulo, stole the money through an overbilling and kickback scheme, prosecutors said Thursday. Four other people also are charged.

February

Violence in small-town Brazil worse than Rio- study
Reuters - Alertnet, 2/27/07

Violence in crime-ridden Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo has grabbed media headlines in recent months but Brazil's smaller cities and towns are even more dangerous, a study showed on Tuesday. Murder rates in several small municipalities by far exceeded those of Brazil's mega-cities, according to a study sponsored by the Organization of Iberoamerican States for Education, Science and Culture (OIS). "These cities are no-man's land, with huge conflicts over land, Indians, and deforestation," Julio Jacobo Waiselfisz, author of the report, told Reuters.

Brazil Lula mulls Central Bank changes, Meirelles to stay - report
Dow Jones Newsline, 2/22/07

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is preparing to order changes in the board of directors of the country's central bank, however, bank President Henrique Meirelles will likely stay on at the institution, the Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reported in its Thursday edition. According to the report, among changes seen likely at the bank would be the replacement of Economic Policy Director Afonso Bevilaqua, possibly with one of his fellow directors Mario Mesquita, Paulo Vieira da Cunha, or Rodrigo Azevedo. The report said that Lula is seeking a central bank with "technical autonomy" concerning monetary policy, but that responds directly to him administratively and politically.

Brazil’s unemployment rate rises to 9.3 percent in Janurary
International Herald Tribune, 2/22/07

Brazil's unemployment rate rose to 9.3 percent in January as employers let go workers who had been hired months earlier for the busy Christmas retail season, the government said Thursday. The rate was up from 8.4 percent in December, according to the Brazilian Census Bureau, and came in at the high end of predictions by economists surveyed by the Agencia Estado news service. But unemployment in Latin America's largest nation was virtually unchanged from the jobless rate of 9.2 percent for January 2006.

Brazil’s famed Carnival winds down
Associated Press, 2/20/07

Revelers packed Rio de Janeiro's beaches and danced in streets littered with pieces of glittery costumes Tuesday, soaking up the final hours of merriment after the climax of the city's world-famous carnival. Earlier, as the sun came up, the samba group Beija Flor - "hummingbird" in English - wowed a capacity crowd of 60,000 in Rio's Sambadromo stadium with a celebration of Brazil's African roots.

Exporting the spirit of Brazil
The Guardian, 2/19/07

The founder of Sagatiba wants his fiery liquor to become bigger than tequila. When the Brazilian internet millionaire Marcos de Moraes was on holiday in the Mediterranean in 2003, he noticed that it was difficult to buy a caipirinha - the cocktail mixed with the Brazilian sugar cane spirit cachaca, lime, sugar and ice. "I've been all over the world and I have never met anyone who doesn't like a caipirinha," he says. "So it came to me there and then - if there is an international market for drinks like gin, vodka and tequila, there must also be one for cachaca."

Cachaça: It’s the essence of Brazil in a bottle
USA Today, 2/16/07

From the young, sexy and hip people lounging at trendy Posto 9 on Ipanema beach to the foodies feasting on authentic Brazilian cuisine in the rustic yet chic Aprazível restaurant in the bucolic Santa Teresa neighborhood, cachaça (ka-SHA-sa) is as much a way of life here as samba. During the annual Carnival in particular, which engulfs this city Saturday through Tuesday, this rum-like spirit made from fresh sugar cane will flow freely throughout the crowds. Some partakers enjoy their cachaça in a caipirinha (kai-pee-reen-yah), the national drink of Brazil made with muddled lime wedges, cachaça, sugar and ice.

Brazil considers tougher penalties for minors after dragging death
International Herald Tribune, 2/13/07

A national outcry over the dragging death of a 6-year-old boy has prompted Congress to vote this week on stiffening penalties for heinous crimes and possibly reducing the age juveniles can be tried as adults. "The minor who commits a barbaric, heinous, cruel crime will be protected by his 16 years? No," congressman Beto Albuquerque, the government leader in the Chamber of deputies, told the government news agency Radiobras. "A minor must be treated as a minor when he commits a minor crime."

Petrobras asked to pay half a billion to victims of oil leak
Xinhua, 2/9/07

Brazil's state-owned oil and gas giant Petrobras was sentenced on Thursday to pay 1.1 billion reals (526 million U.S. dollars) to fishermen and their families, which were directly affected by an oil leak in 2000. According to a press statement released by representatives of the fishermen, Rio de Janeiro's Court ruled that Petrobras must pay 75,411 reals (36,081 U.S. dollars) per month to each of the 12,180 fishermen for ten years. The payments will be backdated to the time of the accident.

Brazil’s slums face a new problem: vigilante militias
Christian Science Monitor, 2/8/07

Homicides claimed more than 6,000 victims in Rio de Janeiro last year, many of them in gang violence fought by organized crime gangs seeking to control the sale of marijuana and cocaine in the city's favelas, or shantytowns. As if inter-gang violence were not enough, there is now a new element in the mix. Militias formed by off-duty and former cops, prison guards, and firefighters are moving in to oust the drug gangs and install their own brand of extortion.

BG says Brazil’s Tupi may be 10 bln-barrel field
Reuters, 2/8/07

UK oil explorer BG Group Plc said the Tupi field in Brazil, which it is exploring with state-run oil firm Petrobras, could contain over 10 billion barrels of oil and gas. Chief Executive Frank Chapman said oil in place, which is usually much larger than recoverable reserves, was at least 1.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) and could be over 10 billion boe. "The scale is potentially huge," Chapman told a press conference in London on Thursday.

The pulse of Rio de Janeiro’s slums luring foreign guests
Christian Science Monitor, 2/6/07

Emerging government debt spreads were close to their tightest level on record as investors's appetite for risk continued to improve, helped by a positive revision of Brazil's credit by Fitch Ratings. Fitch Ratings on Tuesday revised Brazil's credit outlook to positive from stable while keeping its rating at "BB," citing a rapid improvement in the country's external accounts The news drove foreign investors to snap up local securities seeking to boost returns which in turn drove the Bovespa stock index to a record and the real currency to a nine-month high.

Drawing lines across the sand, between classes
New York Times, 2/6/07

Brazilians like to say that the beach is their country’s “most democratic space.” But some bodies — and some beaches — are more equal than others. In the Brazilian imagination, the beach has traditionally been regarded as the great leveler, “the place where the general, the teacher, the politician, the millionaire and the poor student” were all equal, said Roberto da Matta, an anthropologist and newspaper columnist who is a leading social commentator. “Their bodies were all made equally humble,” he said, by the near-naked proximity of “one body with others, all of them without defense or disguise.”

Lula vs. Congress in Brazil
Time, 2/1/07

Brazil's president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is assuming his second term in office with a whopping 62% vote mandate. The outgoing parliamentarians were so recalcitrant that Lula, in his first term, quickly decided the only way to move forward was to pay them for their support, and fully one-fifth of them were under investigation for involvement in that cash-for-votes affair or one of several other corruption scandals. How well Lula deals with them will be vital in deciding not only how he shapes his second and final four-year term but also his political legacy.

January

Literary Guide to Brazil
Salon Magazine, 1/30/07

After Carnival, soccer and samba, go deeper into this South American nation via its seductive novels and gritty true-life stories. Where do you start with Brazil, that massive, sprawling swath of South America, a republic founded in 1889 on the principle -- or fantasy -- of "order and progress," but forever caught between crashes and calamities, coups and dictatorships? (In 1961, Time magazine wrote that Brazil's mercurial new president, Janio Quadros, had "burst on the world like Brazil itself -- temperamental, bristling with independence, bursting with ambition, haunted by poverty, fighting to learn, greedy for greatness.")

Long-lost trove of music connects Brazil to its roots
New York Times, 1/24/07

From the mid-1930s onward, the American ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax led expeditions into the Deep South, searching for authentic blues and folk singers. Thanks to those efforts, Muddy Waters and Woody Guthrie made their first recordings and a template for American popular music was set. Early in 1938, Mário de Andrade, the municipal secretary of culture here, dispatched a four-member Folklore Research Mission to the northeastern hinterlands of Brazil on a similar mission. His intention was to record as much music as possible as quickly as possible, before encroaching influences like radio and cinema began transforming the region’s distinctive culture.

Brazil agency strips flights from Varig
Houston Chronicle, 1/25/07

Brazil's civil aviation authority on Thursday permanently stripped former flagship airline Varig of 119 domestic flights that were not being used by the company. Brazil's National Agency of Civil Aviation, or ANAC, said in a statement that Varig had only been operating 151 of its 270 allowed flights since ANAC gave the new owners of Varig a full certificate to operate on Dec. 14.

Suspect in $70M bank heist dead
Washington Post, 1/22/07

A man accused of helping steal more than $70 million in cash from a branch of Brazil's central bank in 2005 was found dead on a remote ranch, authorities said Sunday. Anselmo Oliveira Magalhaes, 32, was found by police on Saturday with a broken neck and his hands and feet tied inside a 75-foot well at the ranch in the interior city of Santa Izabel, said Luciana Araripi, a spokeswoman for the Sao Paulo state Public Safety Department.

Total Brazil cell phone users near 100 million mark
Reuters, 1/16/07

Brazil finished 2006 with a total of 99.92 million cellular phone users, a 15.8 percent increase from the previous year, according to data released on Tuesday by the country's telecommunications regulator. But the data also showed that growth in the cell phone market in Brazil, a continent-sized country of 185 million people, has begun to slow. In all, 13.7 million new cell phones went into service last year. That marked a sharp slowdown from 2005, when wireless providers signed up 20.6 million new users.

Elite police head to crime-hit Rio
Al-Jazeera English, 1/15/07

The first units of an elite Brazilian police force have headed for Rio de Janeiro on a mission to crack down on rampant crime in the city. About 400 troopers in the paramilitary national public security force have been sent to Rio by air and road, Agencia Brasil, the national broadcaster, said on Sunday. Sergio Cabral, the state governor, requested the troops after violence in the city surged in December. Assailants linked to drugs gangs attacked police posts and at least 19 people were killed, including seven civilians burned alive in a bus.

In the land of bold beauty, a trusted mirror cracks
New York Times, 1/14/07

As king of carnival, the corpulent Rei Momo is supposed to embody all the jollity, carnality and excess associated with that most Brazilian of bacchanals. So when the event’s reigning monarch has gastric bypass surgery, sheds 150 pounds and starts an exercise program, you begin to wonder what’s going on. And when six young women die of anorexia in quick succession— two in the last two weeks — the wonder turns to bewilderment. Brazil may well be the most body-conscious society in the world, but that body has always been Brazil’s confident own — not a North American or European one.

Globalist: War that doesn't speak its name rages in Brazil
International Herald Tribune, 1/09/07

Rio de Janeiro has been home to 18,000 violent deaths in the last three years,
amounting to six times the number of American deaths in the Iraq war since 2003. Gangs proliferate, police officers with monthly salaries of less than $500 are easily corrupted, and impunity is widespread. The new governor, Sérgio Cabral, has tackled the public security threat head-on. Police corruption is being stamped out, dangerous criminals are being transferred to out-of-state facilities, and poverty is being targetted through family-planning measures.

Federal force to police Brazil city
Al Jazeera English, 1/04/07

Brazil's federal government will send a national security force of military police into Rio de Janeiro in order to curb gang violence before Carnival begins. In 2004, a 7,700 strong national security force was created. It has since been used on three occasions, although never in Rio or Sao Paulo. Authorities are particularly concerned about security as Rio is due to hold a Mercosul trade bloc summit and the 2007 Pan American Games.

Brazil's Silva Faces Tough Challenges
Washington Post, 1/03/07

President Lula faces the challenges of reinvigorating Brazil's sluggish economy and cracking down on crime under goals he set for his second term. Latin America's biggest country has seen only feeble economic growth, reaching 2.8 percent in 2006 and expected to rise to 3.4 percent in 2007. Lula has vowed to increase economic growth without sacrificing the social programs that are largely responsible for his high popularity and for lifting an estimated 10 million people out of extreme poverty.

Lula promises to confront "terrorism"
Latin News, 1/02/07

President Lula promised strong action against "terrorism," referring to the gang violence that erupted in Rio in the final few days of 2006, "which should not be treated as a common crime." The worst such incident of violence was the burning alive of eight people inside a bus, which was seized and set on fire. According to Lula, the violence was a reflection of a decline in moral standards.

Brazil president begins new term
Al Jazeera English, 1/01/07

President Lula pledged during his inauguration to unlock Brazil's economic growth potential without sacrificing fiscal discipline or social welfare programs. Tight monetary and fiscal policies sent financial markets soaring during Lula's first-term but helped brake growth. While an opinion poll in December showed that Brazilian consider him the country's best president ever, critics complain that Lula has refused to slash large government expenditures, which economists say are the principal obstacle to lower taxes and interest rates.

December 2006

Many killed in Rio violence
Al Jazeera English, 12/30/06

At least 19 people, including two policemen, have been killed in attacks by armed men in Rio de Janeiro. Gang members attacked civilian buses and police stations, mostly in the city's poor north side but also in the upscale Lagoa district. Rio is one of the most violent cities in the world, with an annual murder rate of around 50 per 100,000 residents.

19 Are Killed as Drug Gangs Conduct Attacks in Brazil
New York Times, 12/29/06

Heavily armed drug gangs unleashed a wave of attacks on police stations and public roads in Rio de Janeiro yesterday, and at least 19 people were killed in the confrontations. The violence was meant as a warning to the new governor, Sérgio Cabral, in the hopes that imprisoned gang leaders can create pressure to negotiate concessions and privileges. Gangs were also reacting to the presence of private "militias" of off-duty police officers in their neighborhoods which are killing and expelling gang kingpins.

Brazil’s congress awards itself 90% pay rise
Financial Times, 12/15/06

Members of Brazil's congress have awarded themselves a 90.7 percent pay rise, in a move that will undermine efforts to bring public spending under control. In a closed meeting on Thursday evening, leaders of congress agreed to increase their monthly wage from R$12,847 ($6,000) to R$24,500. The move will come into effect when legislators return from recess on February 1. Including expenses, staff salaries, and extra payments, the minimum average monthly package for members of congress will rise to R$116,254.

Aviation in Brazil: Grounded
The Economist, 12/13/06

A radio failure on December 5th caused the worst delays in the history of Brazilian air travel. This follows the deadly mid-air collision between an executive jet and a commercial airplane. The underlying problems are that the Brazilian air force runs air-traffic control and it and the government have failed to keep up with booming traffic.

Streets Are Paved With Neon’s Glare, and City Calls a Halt
New York Times, 12/12/06

Beginning in January, the city government of São Paulo will be implementing a "clean city" law whose provisions include the removal of all advertisements from outdoor locations. While some have lauded the statute for its attention to aesthetics, advertising and business groups have spoke out against what they perceive as a threat to their earning potential.

No Charges in Sanguessugas Scandal
Latin News, 12/11/06

There is not enough evidence to indict any of the deputies suspected of involvement in the sanguessuga scandal, according to Deputy Amir Lando, president of the congressional committee designed to investigate the fraud. Nearly 70 deputies were thought to be involved in the fraud in the health ministry, which may have cost the public 1 billion reais (almost 500 million dollars).

Pilots Involved in Brazil Crash Arrive Home
New York Times, 12/10/06

More than two months after a private plane and a Brazilian airliner collided at 37,000 feet over the Amazon rainforest, the private plane's two pilots have returned to the United States. All 154 passengers aboard the Gol airliner were killed in the accident, and the Brazilian Federal Police have formally charged the pair with exposing an aircraft to danger. Though the United States and Brazil share an extradition treaty, the pilots' defense lawyer does not expect them to return to South America.

The Latinobarómetro Poll: The democracy dividend
The Economist, 12/07/06

According to the newest polls from the Latinobarómetro, Latin America's democracies have recovered from public disillusionment thanks to three years of economic growth and a plethora of elections. In Brazil, 46 percent of citizens agree that "democracy is preferable to any other type of government," up from 37 percent a year ago. However, 18 percent agree that "in certain circumstances an authoritarian government can be preferable to a democratic one," up from 15 percent last year.

Opposition will not vote for next year's budget
Latin News, 12/04/06

Opposition congressmen announced on Friday that they will not vote through next year's budget in protest of "discriminatory" government funding. According to the government's managing agency, congressmen from the governing coalition received three times more federal funds than did opposition congressmen last year. Brasilia has yet to fully disburse funds for legislative projects approved as early as 2004.

Trade, Economy and Development
September

Brazil president on stock slide: 'What crisis?'
Associated Press, 09/16/2008
Brazil's stock market rebounded Tuesday after its worst day in seven years as the president insisted the country is still a safe bet.President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says Brazil's $205 billion in foreign currency reserves will insulate it from the U.S. banking crisis, which on Monday pushed stocks lower worldwide.

Petrobras' Brazil oil output hits record in Aug
Reuters , 09/16/2008

Domestic monthly oil output rose to a record high in August after production was raised at two wells and another platform entered into service, Brazil's state-run energy firm said on Tuesday. Petrobras, which accounts for nearly all crude production and refining in Latin America's largest country, said it pumped an average of 1.89 million barrels per day last month, up 1 percent from 1.87 million bpd in July and above the average of 1.79 million bpd for all of 2007.

Brazil: Development of oil will help expand 4% in 2009
Mercosul Press, 09/15/2008

Brazil's economy is forecasted to expand 4% in 2009 as oil exploration bolsters investment even as the United States and European Union slowdown hamper global growth, according to the country’s Planning Minister Paulo Bernardo.

Brazil starts military drill around pre-salt layer oil fields
Xinhua, 09/13/2008

Brazil Friday started the Operation Atlantic, a military exercise off the coasts of the states of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo, where the country's pre-salt layer oil fields are located. The exercise, which will last until Sept. 26, is a way to arouse people's awareness on necessary means to protect the so-called "Blue Amazon," a 4.5-million-square-kilometer coast area.

Brazil Stocks, Real Tumble on Commodity Drop, Mantega Outlook
Bloomberg, 09/10/2008

Brazil's benchmark stock index tumbled to the lowest level in a year as prices for the nation's top commodity exports slumped and the finance minister predicted the currency will extend its steepest monthly decline since 2002.

Brazil to create mining regulator, limit terms
Reuters, 09/09/2008

Brazil plans to create a new regulatory agency for the mining sector that will likely raise royalties, impose concessionary term limits and define companies' management and use of mineral resources, a local newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Brazil nuts
Economist, 09/09/2008

As economic growth has slowed, share prices have tumbled in each of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) stockmarkets, though they are all well up on what they were in late 2001, when Goldman Sachs invented the acronym. Of those four, investors are most bullish on Brazil—despite its economy’s history of tanking at the very moment that international investors regain their confidence in it (which, on past form, would be just about now). Brazilian shares may be down by 16% this year in local-currency terms (and 10% in dollars), but they are still worth four times what they were five years ago.

Brazil's Real Gains as Fannie, Freddie Takeover Spurs Demand
Bloomberg, 09/08/2008

Brazil's real gained the most in almost three weeks as the U.S. government's takeover of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac triggered demand for high-yielding assets.

Brazil Will Use Pre-Salt Oil to Eradicate Poverty, Lula Says
Bloomberg, 09/07/2008

``The priority for the resources from pre-salt fields will be education and the eradication of poverty,' Lula said in a speech to celebrate Brazil's independence today. The government will begin a public debate about regulations governing the extraction of pre-salt oil and how to use the revenue it generates ``within weeks,' Lula said. About a quarter of Brazil's population lived in poverty in 2006, according to a study by the government-run Institute of Applied Economics Research in Brasilia.

Brazil, Argentina drop U.S. dollar for bilateral trade
Miami Herald, 09/07/2008

Brazil and Argentina are ready to stop using U.S. dollars to trade goods between them. Brazil's president told the Buenos Aires-based Clarín newspaper that exports and imports between the two nations will be bought and sold in local currency -- reals and pesos.

AOL Plans Brazil Launch Soon
Latin Business Chronicle, 09/01/2008

Nearly a decade after launching in Brazil for the first time and three years after leaving the country, AOL will make a new attempt at conquering Latin America's largest market. AOL plans to launch a Brazilian site later this year or early next year.

Brazil's New C-Class
Latin Business Chronicle, 09/01/2008

The number of C-class consumers in Brazil is growing, but challenges ahead include rising inflation and the level of investment as a percentage of GDP.

Brazil: Deforestation rises sharply as farmers push into Amazon
The Guardian, 09/01/2008

Concerns over the destruction of the Brazilian rainforest resurfaced at the weekend after it emerged that deforestation jumped by 64% over the last 12 months, according to official government data.

August

As food prices soar, Brazil and Argentina react in opposite ways
New York Times, 08/27/2008

Rising food prices mean many farmers around the world are reaping record profits. And South America’s agricultural powerhouses, Brazil and Argentina, are responding to the farming windfall in opposite ways. Mr. da Silva’s government recently announced record farm credits, a form of indirect subsidy, to encourage Brazil’s farmers to produce more while the price of their exports are high on world markets, a move that should improve Brazil’s economy. But Argentina, Brazil’s economic and political archrival, decided to share the agricultural windfall at home.

Brazil’s Lula prods U.S., China to restart trade talks
Reuters, 08/07/2008

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday that he had contacted the U.S. and Chinese presidents to discuss reviving the global trade talks, which collapsed last month. Lula, who was in the Chinese capital for the opening of the Olympic Games, told a news conference in Beijing that he also intended to talk with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Petrobras to focus resources on Brazil field
Financial Times, 08/04/2008

Petrobras is to reduce exploratory activities abroad in order to concentrate on exploiting a potentially huge Brazilian offshore oilfield, according to the company's president and chief executive. José Sergio Gabrielli said the move would slow the pace of its operations in some of the 26 other countries in which it operates. However, he said there had been no decision to pull out from any of them and he did not identify in which locations activities would be slowed.

Brazil to dispute US subsidies
Financial Times, 08/03/2008

Brazil is preparing to take action against the US over what it says are illegal subsidies and other trade barriers following the collapse of the Doha round of talks at the World Trade Organisation in Geneva last week. “The clock is ticking,” Celso Amorim, Brazil’s foreign minister, told the Financial Times in his first interview after returning from the failed talks. “Our understanding with the US was good throughout and it never came to acrimony. But they are the biggest subsidisers in the world in terms of what affects us, so we will have to see them in court.” In June the WTO upheld a complaint by Brazil that Washington had not done enough to remove illegal subsidies to its cotton farmers, opening the way for Brazil to request WTO authorisation for more than $1bn in retaliatory sanctions on US services and intellectual property.

For wealthy Brazilian, money from ore and might from the cosmos
The New York Times, 08/02/2008

A geologist by training, João Carlos Cavalcanti — who goes by J.C. — applied his knowledge and considerable gumption to discovering huge reserves of iron ore and other minerals. Today he pegs his net worth at $1.2 billion, placing him among the 20 richest men in Brazil. Before this year is out, he vows to have $1 billion in liquid investments, to go with his 39 cars, 10 homes and two airplanes. Mr. Cavalcanti, 59, is a charter member of an emerging mega-rich group in Brazil, whose flourishing economy minted the third most millionaires last year, after India and China, according to a recent study by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini, the big consulting firm. He is among the newly wealthy benefiting from Brazil’s boom in commodities like soybeans and iron ore.

July

Strong economy propels Brazil to world stage
The New York Times, 07/31/2008

Brazil, South America’s largest economy, is finally poised to realize its long-anticipated potential as a global player, economists say, as the country rides its biggest economic expansion in three decades. That growth is being felt in nearly all parts of the economy, creating a new class of super rich even as people like Ms. Sousa lift themselves into an expanding middle class. It has also given Brazil new swagger, providing it, for instance, with greater leverage to push for a tougher bargain with the United States and Europe in global trade talks.

Brazil to harden line on U.S. farm aid post Doha
Reuters, 07/30/2008

Brazil will likely take a hard line against U.S. agricultural subsidies at the World Trade Organization now that the Doha talks have collapsed, trade specialists said on Wednesday. The WTO's so-called Doha Round of talks to cut trade barriers and farm subsidies collapsed on Tuesday in Geneva, frustrating hopes in Latin America's largest economy for a global deal.

Brazil shuts down ‘inadequate’ U.S. proposal to shrink farmer’s aid
AFP, 07/23/2008

A global trade deal appeared as elusive as ever yesterday after two days of talks, with developing countries dismissive of a U.S. proposal on farm subsidies a day after a European initiative went nowhere. The United States offered to cut official aid to its farmers to $15-billion (U.S.) a year in a bid to spur movement at World Trade Organization trade talks but found no support from key player Brazil. "Nice try," said a member of the Brazilian delegation, adding that the proposed new subsidy level was "still too high."

Doha talks: Brazil snubs EU’s tariff cut plan
Telegraph, 07/22/2008

Europe's offer to cut tariffs on agricultural imports by 60pc has been rejected by Brazil on the first day of the World Trade Organisation's deadlocked talks. Delegates from developed nations hoped the proposal to deepen cuts from 54pc to 60pc might salvage discussions at the Doha round of talks in Geneva. EU trade chief Peter Mandelson described the complex negotiations on agricultural tariffs as a "once-in-a-generation effort".

Doha trade deal a milestone for emerging Brazil
Reuters, 07/18/2008

Among the 30-plus ministers who will sit down at a meeting in Geneva next week to try to advance global trade talks, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim is in a particular bind. He has already spent a lot of political capital on the so-called Doha round of negotiations, trying to forge a common front among developing nations to push for freer farm trade over nearly seven years. But at home, domestic lobbies are pushing Amorim in the opposite direction at the negotiating table. A deal in the talks that began in 2001 could consolidate Brazil's credentials as a leader among developing nations and an emerging diplomatic power. Much of the credit for that would go to Amorim. If the talks fail, however, the risks of a trade policy focused almost exclusively on Doha would be exposed and could diminish Brazil's international clout.

Brazil’s best product designs
BusinessWeek, 07/17/2008

The first location-specific program for the International Design Excellence Awards celebrated 53 examples of top Brazilian design. By calling for design submissions from around the giant South American nation, the organization aimed to emphasize the importance of design to Brazilian business, which has surged in recent years thanks to robust exports as well as a booming national economy.

Brazil goes into WTO talks as voice of developing nations
AFP, 07/17/2008

Major agricultural exporter Brazil is to head into WTO talks on hammering out a global trade liberalisation deal next week as one of the principal representatives of the developing world. As co-leader with India of the G20 -- a coalition of developing nations determined to win greater access to US and EU markets for their farm exports -- Brazil is seen as having influence in the talks which start on Monday at World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva.

Brazil bucks global economic downturn
Christian Science Monitor, 07/15/2008

Although many countries in the region are doing well – Latin America is enjoying one of its best periods of economic growth in 40 years, the United Nations reported last month – Brazil is outpacing its neighbors. Moreover, the good times seem set to roll: As the rest of the world tightens its belt in fear of a downturn, Brazilians are putting their hands in their pockets and pulling out cash.

Brazil says agriculture remains stumbling block at world trade talks
International Herald Tribune, 07/15/2008

Developed nations' agricultural subsidies and farm good tariffs remain the biggest obstacles to an agreement on the long-stalled Doha round of World Trade Organization talks, Brazil's foreign minister said Monday. Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said the latest proposals are too vague and may even represent a step backward for the talks.

Brazil shines as other emerging market funds have a miserable 2nd quarter
International Herald Tribune, 07/11/2008

Emerging market funds generally had a miserable second quarter, led lower by former investor darlings like India and China that extended their first-quarter slide. A notable exception: Brazil funds, which not only withstood global bouts of volatility, but turned in strong gains as well. Offshore Brazil portfolios gained an average 14.7 percent for the second period, according to Morningstar, the fund research group.

Feature-Brazil boom lifts millions into middle class
Factbox-Brazil’s new middle class
Reuters, 07/08/2008

The Rocinha (Rio de Janeiro) development, part of a $315 billion federal program aimed at improving the country's decrepit infrastructure, is one sign of how millions of poor are benefiting from an unprecedented period of economic growth in South America's largest economy. The income of the poorest 10 percent of people grew by about 9 percent per year between 2001 and 2006, compared with 2 to 4 percent for richer people, according to the World Bank. The country still has some of the worst inequality in the world, but that is changing rapidly as tens of millions move out of danger of hunger and within reach of their first television, refrigerator or computer.

Special report: BRAZIL
Financial Times, 07/08/2008

In this six-page special report, the Financial Times explores Brazil’s economic and political stabilization over recent years. Through a series of articles that range in subject from policy initiatives to environmental concerns, the authors show that although Brazil has considerably improved its situation, the transformation into a global power is far from complete.

Resourceful Brazil takes its place on world stage
The Des Moines Register, 07/06/2008

Brazil leaves a lasting impression of a nation that has one foot striding confidently toward the global stage, yet the other mired in the Third World. Its ability to make the leap will depend on how it addresses its glaring social inequalities, many Brazilians believe.

Wanted: Skilled workers for a growing economy in Brazil
The New York Times, 07/02/2008

For almost any nation other than China or India, achieving more than 5 percent growth a year is hard. Doing it without skilled labor is even harder. Many companies and economists, including some inside the government, say the dearth of highly skilled labor, particularly engineers and tradesmen, will jeopardize those goals, and Brazil’s economic and political rise.

June

Blame it on Rio: GE’s Brazilian headache
TaxAnalysts, 06/30/2008

In 2005 the new manager of a General Electric subsidiary in Brazil that made light bulbs and lighting equipment got a tip, the company says. It led to his discovering something curious in the company's records: Up to 64 percent of annual sales were recorded as going to wholesale distributors in lightly populated regions near the Amazon River. In a PowerPoint presentation to GE executives in the United States, Moreira analyzed sales patterns by vendor and supposed location of the sale. His report cited "suspicious" invoices as "an indication of possible tax evasion" that saved GE either 12 cents or 19 cents on each dollar of sales.

Brazil expects OPEC invite, sees moderating role
Reuters UK, 06/27/2008

Brazil, which has found big offshore oil reserves in the subsalt cluster, expects an invitation by OPEC to join the exporter countries' cartel, Energy Minister Edison Lobao was quoted as saying on Friday. Lobao said in an interview with Valor Economico business newspaper that his estimates were based on the fact that Brazil had been called up for a meeting of oil producer and consumer nations in Jeddah last weekend.

Brazil becomes the new food superpower
U.S. News & World Report, 06/25/2008

With millions of people literally hungering for affordable food, Brazil's breakthroughs in tropical agriculture may prove to be the key to feeding a growing global population. If Saudi Arabia fills the world's gas stations, China assembles its consumer goods, and India vies to staff its office services, then it is Brazil that is stepping forward to stock its pantries. The rise of Brazil as an agricultural powerhouse may be the most important story of globalization that many Americans have never heard of.

Petrobras wants Brazil to update producer rules
Financial Times, 06/22/2008

Brazil needs to change laws governing its oil industry to cope with its coming status as a big oil-producing nation and capture more revenues for the state, says Sérgio Gabrielli, president of Petrobras, the government-controlled oil group. Mr Gabrielli’s comments, in an interview with the Financial Times, come during continuing debate on future conditions governing oil companies operating in Brazil following the discovery of potentially huge reserves of oil off the country’s coast.

Submerging markets: Brazil’s IPO rush hits rough patch
The Wall Street Journal, 06/20/2008

Brazil's stock market is one of the best performing in the world; its main index is up 22% over the past 12 months. But for investors who took part in an unprecedented rush of IPOs last year -- when 64 companies went public, more than on London's busy stock exchange -- the returns have been decidedly more mixed. Two-thirds of those IPOs are now trading below their offering prices. Some investors are blaming the banks that brought the deals to market, saying they cashed in on the frenzy for emerging markets by rushing to take unprepared companies public. Along the way, say investors, banks engaged in questionable practices, including lending some companies large sums before taking them public and then collecting extra fees on opening day.

Brazil’s central bank calls for global controls on inflation
Financial Times, 06/19/2008

Inflation is the biggest threat facing Brazil and the rest of the world, Henrique Meirelles, president of Brazil's central bank, has told the Financial Times, making an appeal to other central bankers to join the task of keeping international price rises under control. “The biggest concern over the next 12 months for Brazil and the rest of the world is inflation," he said in an interview in São Paulo. "The risk is that prices for food and raw materials will continue to rise. If every central banker decides that this is a problem for other countries, nobody will do anything and there will be [faster] worldwide inflation.”

A not-so-sweet lesson from Brazil’s cocoa farms
NPR, 06/14/2008

Bahia was once the center of the chocolate universe. A region in eastern Brazil, it is a lush tropical paradise. Lizards skitter up trees. Birds, seen and unseen, make themselves heard. Everything changed when a fungal infection swept Bahia. The fungus, called witches'-broom, only attacks cacao trees, and it ravaged the chocolate industry in Bahia in the late 1980s and early '90s. Its effects didn't end there, though. The first law of ecology is that everything in nature is connected to everything else, so a fungus that attacks cacao could change an entire ecosystem and way of life.

Brazil’s economic boom marred by social inequalities (Part One)
Brazil seeks to break new ground in global marketplace (Part Two)
New generation of Brazilian musicians tries to go global (Part Three)
PBS-News Hour, 06/09/2008, 06/10/2008, 06/13/2008

For the past six years, alleviating poverty in the favelas, the shanty towns that exist on the lip of Brazil's major cities, has been the primary focus of the government of President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, himself a former shoe-shine boy with no formal education. Statistics show the economy is growing at its fastest rate for 20 years, thanks in large measure to the world's voracious appetite for Brazilian commodities. That is swelling the ranks of Brazil's middle-income earners, and fewer than 1.5 million people in this country of 186 million now earn less than $3,000 U.S. a year. And yet the economic picture in Brazil is not entirely idyllic.

Brazil economy expands 5.8 percent in 1st quarter, boosted by consumers, investment
The Associated Press, 06/10/2008

Brazil's economy expanded at a rapid clip of 5.8 percent in the first quarter as consumers continued a spending spree and businesses invested heavily to meet demand, the government said Tuesday. The increase, which beat most analysts' expectations, was trumpeted by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as proof that Brazil's orthodox monetary policy — with aggressive moves to control inflation and this year eliminate the nation's traditionally mammoth foreign debt — will keep the country on a path of sustainable growth.

Brazil’s fuel exception: No price rises, thanks to tax cuts
AFP, 06/09/2008

While other countries are hiking prices at the pump, Brazil is going against the trend: maintaining retail prices by cutting fuel taxes. The strategy, meant to offset the record high cost of oil, is also helped by the rise of the Brazilian real against the dollar -- it has more than doubled its relative value in the past five years. The government fears that high fuel prices would make farm production and transport more expensive for one of the world's biggest agricultural exporters, explained Renato Maluf, president of the Brazilian Food Security Council.

Brazil dazzled by promise of new oil riches
The Times, 06/09/2008

From Brazil's mountainous coastline near São Paulo, the azure blue of the South Atlantic shimmers towards the horizon. Deep beneath the ocean lies what could be one of the world's largest oil discoveries - at least five billion barrels' worth, but probably far more. As oil prices soar to record highs of $139 per barrel (and likely more to come), it promises to transform Brazil into one of the world's biggest producers, with profound implications for the country's economy and society.

Brazil’s Petrobras hopes to tap new oil basin
Reuters, 06/03/2008

Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras seeks to tap a new basin off the northeastern coast, even as new oil discoveries crop up regularly in the prolific Santos Basin down south. The Jequitinhonha Basin far up the coast from Santos is promising enough to move a drilling rig from Santos' large Jupiter gas find soon, said Petrobras' exploration and production director Guilherme Estrella at the Reuters Global Energy Summit late on Monday.

May

Brazilian debt boosted to investment grade by Fitch Ratings
The Associated Press, 05/29/2008

Fitch Ratings raised Brazilian debt to investment grade on Thursday, giving Latin America's largest nation more good economic news less than a month after another ratings agency declared Brazil a safe place to invest. Fitch said Brazil's government has shown it is committed to policies favoring low inflation and a primary budget surplus. The upgrade came three months after Brazil's Central Bank announced the end of the nation's debt crisis, saying the country had emerged as a net foreign creditor for the first time.

Foreign investment in Brazil grows 26%
Brazil-Arab News Agency, 05/27/2008

Brazil received US$ 12.7 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first four months of this year. This represents an increase of 26.2% over the same period in 2007, according to a sector report disclosed yesterday (26) by the Central Bank of Brazil.

Boom times for Brazil’s consumers
The New York Times, 05/24/2008

Consumers in the United States are tightening their belts; Brazilians are spending like there’s no word in Portuguese for recession. Middle-class Americans are surrounded by a rising tide of angst; Brazil’s middle class is growing. Even some creditworthy Americans cannot find a mortgage; Brazilians are taking out loans like never before.

Brazil seeks financial supports to fill its technical gap
Xinhua, 05/23/2008

Heads of electronics giants IBM, Texas Instruments, AMD, Motorola, Samsung and Intel met in Brasília Friday as part of Brazil's efforts in recent years to fill its technical gap. The convening, sponsored by the Brazilian government and an American company leading the field of integrated circuits, is aimed at prompting those companies to invest in Brazil.

Brazil’s Lula blames inflation on consumption rise
Reuters , 05/20/2008

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday blamed the country's accelerating inflation on a rise in consumption and said the government would work to balance out the market. Lula made his comments the same day as two separate inflation indexes stirred concerns about inflation in Brazil.

Brazil joins front rank of new economic powers
The Wall Street Journal , 05/13/2008

For much of the decade, slow-growing Brazil seemed out of its league lumped in with the dynamic emerging economies of Russia, India and China in the so-called BRIC group. Skeptics said that RIC was more like it. But slowly and without great fanfare, Brazil's economy has turned a big corner. Already a global power in agriculture and natural resources, Brazil has added a key ingredient that had long eluded it: a currency with staying power. In turn, that's helping unleash the greatest burst of prosperity the country has witnessed in three decades, attracting foreign investors by the score and providing a growth engine for a flagging global economy.

Brazil grants tax cuts, low-cost loans to boost exports
The Associated Press, 05/12/2008
Brazil's government unveiled plans Monday to grant the equivalent of more than US$13 billion (€8.43 billion) in tax cuts and loans to boost exports and industrial production. Export industries and technology companies will receive 21.4 billion reals (US$12.6 billion; €8.17 billion) in tax cuts through 2011 to stimulate "productive investments" and innovation, Finance Minister Guido Mantega said. Exporters also will benefit from 1.3 billion reals (US$765 million; €496 million) in low-cost loans — more than double the 500 million reals (US$294 million; €191 million) awarded last year, Mantega said.

Report: Brazil wants OPEC membership
The Associated Press, 05/09/2008

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva believes his nation wants to join OPEC to help bring down oil prices, a leading German weekly quoted him as saying Friday. Silva said in the interview published in Der Spiegel news magazine that his nation plans to exploit massive deep-water oil reserves discovered near Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil eyeing capital control after upgrade-report
Reuters, 05/04/2008

Brazil's government will debate adopting controls to manage an expected rise in capital inflows following last week's investment upgrade by rating agency Standard and Poor's, a leading newspaper reported on Sunday. A cabinet meeting led by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will discuss on Wednesday measures that could include taxes on capital inflows, O Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper said.

Brazil goes investment-grade
Business Week, 05/01/2008

Just five years ago, it would have been impossible to envision Brazil as an investment-grade country: The South American nation was strapped with billions in debt, and many investors believed the new, leftist President would ramp up already-high government spending. But President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva—a former firebrand labor unionist elected in 2002 and reelected for a second four-year term in 2006—has proved to be a careful steward of Latin America's largest economy. And the country has been blessed with strong international commodities prices that have transformed the onetime foreign debt defaulter into a fast-growing economy flush with foreign reserves.

April

Brazilian Mining Titan Takes On Global Giants
The Wall Street Journal, 04/25/2008

When Companhia Vale do Rio Doce arrived in the small Canadian mining town of Sudbury a year and a half ago, Mayor John Rodriguez recalls wondering: "Who are these Brazilians?" As the Rio-based mining giant muscles its way to the front of the global business stage, more and more people outside of Brazil are finding out. In 2006, Vale swallowed Sudbury's biggest employer, nickel company Inco, for $17.8 billion -- and set out on a campaign to win over the town's skeptical residents. Vale is now the world's second-largest mining company, and the biggest maker of iron ore, a key ingredient in steel.

Brazil blocks exports of government-owned stocks of rice
International Herald Tribune, 04/25/2008

Brazil's Agriculture Ministry said it has temporarily banned exports of government-owned stocks of rice to guarantee domestic supply amid rising world prices, but other shipments will still be allowed. The Agriculture Ministry had issued a statement Wednesday suggesting that all rice exports were being halted, but a ministry spokeswoman said Thursday the statement was poorly worded.

Brazil's Hard-Fought Economic Dreams
Washington Post, 03/25/2008

During the American inflationary surge in the late 1970s, the Fed raised interest rates to sky-high levels. Latin America was its first victim. Her external debt snowballed and the region entered into a deep recession. The 1980s are known as the “lost decade” in our economic history. Things are different now. The largest countries in South America are accelerating their growth rate while the U.S. is falling into a recession.

Brazil's booming economy grows 5.4 percent in 2007, higher than expected
The Associated Press, 03/12/2008

Brazil's booming economy grew 5.4 percent in 2007 as the nation increased its exports of hot commodities and a domestic consumption frenzy engulfed Latin America's most populous nation, the government announced Wednesday.

Brazil tax bill may boost growth but lacks support
Reuters, 03/10/2008

A government tax overhaul that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva presented last month as crucial to boost Brazil's economic growth is unlikely to be approved by Congress this year, experts say. "The approval of this reform would demand a great deal of political drive from the government and probably the personal involvement of Lula, but I am not convinced this will be a priority for the government this year," said political scientist Rogerio Schmitt, from consulting firm Tendencias.

February

Emerging Market report: Brazil becomes world's biggest Emerging market
Reuters, 02/28/2008

Brazil has moved into pole position among emerging equity markets. The country is the new home to the world's largest emerging market as measured by a leading index, and the bulk of the heavy lifting comes from state-run oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro, or Petrobras (PBR), according to a report released Wednesday by Citigroup.

EU clears 106 Brazil beef farms, resumes trade
Reuters, 02/27/2008

The European Union eased import restrictions on 106 Brazilian farms on Wednesday, allowing the resumption of beef shipments from the Latin American powerhouse into the 27-member bloc, the European Commission said. The EU suspended beef imports from Brazil at the end of January when it imposed stricter controls on meat traceability and general import rules due to concerns over food safety.

Brazil economy will advance in 2008 despite US recession - Moody's Economy.com
Forbes.com, 02/27/2008

Moody's Economy.com said Brazil's economy will continue to advance and still report solid growth this year, despite the recessionary effects from the US economy, although activity will moderate to some extent. The economic research group also said no major inflation problems are expected in the short or medium term, since monetary and fiscal disciplines will be maintained.

Brazil's Lula to talk defense and gold with Sarkozy
Reuters, 02/12/2008

Forging a military alliance between France and Brazil and curbing illegal activity over the Brazil-French Guiana border will be the focus of talks between their two leaders on Tuesday. Presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Nicolas Sarkozy of France will also inaugurate the construction of a bridge linking Brazil with French Guiana -- a key project in developing the wild jungle area.

Brazil frets over Vale's wanderlust
The Wall Street Journal, 02/12/2008

As Brazil's Cia. Vale do Rio Doce ponders a European acquisition valued at as much as $90 billion, a debate at home is simmering about whether the deal would serve Brazil's best interests. A deal would create a mining giant in a time of industry consolidation, with strong positions in nickel, copper and zinc. To stay competitive, the company says, it must expand overseas. (Please see related article.)

Brazil's Embraer bets big on luxury business jets
Reuters, 02/06/2008

At a factory flanked by orange groves and sugar cane fields, workers are putting the finishing touches on a new plane that will make Brazil's Embraer a major player in the executive jet market. The plane, the Phenom 100, is small but roomy, with a cabin outfitted by BMW Designworks that can seat up to eight people. At $3 million, it is a tad pricier than other jets in its class but has twice the lifespan.

In Brazil, anger over European ban of beef imports
The New York Times, 02/05/2008

A decision by the European Union to ban Brazilian beef imports is “unjustifiable and arbitrary” and could result in shortages and higher prices for European consumers, officials and agricultural specialists say. Concerned that the meat could pose health risks, the Europeans banned all Brazilian beef imports last week. European nations are still alert to fears over mad cow disease and foot-and-mouth disease, and contend that Brazil, the world’s largest beef exporter, does not have adequate health and traceability systems in place.

December

Forces driving trade liberalization in Brazil remain stymied
Inside U.S. Trade (Inside Washington Publishers)

Brazil-watchers are expressing doubt that economic developments driving Brazil toward more trade liberalization can prevail over the political considerations of Brazilian President Lula da Silva. The growing agribusiness industry in Brazil over the last decade is pushing for Brazil to move away from its traditional “defensive” trade strategy of protecting domestic industries, they said. But agribusiness, and increasing outflows of Brazilian capital, has had little impact on Lula, who sees Brazil as the industrial center of Mercosur and South America and places paramount importance on maintaining that status, they said.

Brazilian jet maker Embraer soars, and that's good news for South Florida
South Florida Sun-Sentinel 11/25/2007

Brazilian manufacturer Embraer, the world's third-largest commercial jet maker after Airbus and Boeing, garners accolades in aviation circles and inspires pride among Brazilians. After morphing in a decade from a money-losing government venture to a world-class company traded on the New York Stock Exchange with sales about $4 billion a year, what can it do for an encore?

Brazil, China, India urge 'greater efforts' from rich countries at WTO
The Associated Press 11/14/2007

Brazil, China, India and other developing nations will urge rich countries to make greater efforts to reach a new global trade deal, according to a draft statement underscoring how little progress has been made in recent negotiations. The United States, Europe and others need to clarify what concessions they are willing to make in World Trade Organization talks so that poorer economies "can do their part, in proportion to their capabilities," said a draft statement by over 70 nations, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.

Brazil airline BRA requests suspension of all flights amid financial woes
The Associated Press, 11/06/2007

Financially strapped airline BRA Transportes Aereas has asked Brazilian aviation officials for permission to temporarily halt all of its domestic and international flights, the company said Tuesday. The suspension of service would begin on Wednesday, BRA said in a statement. The carrier said it expected immediate authorization and was arranging for ticketed customers to fly on other airlines, but did not elaborate on why it planned the shutdown. The company reportedly sent layoff notices to all of its 1,100 employees, Globo TV said

October

Brazil’s growing steel demand tightens ore supplies
Reuters, 10/26/2007

Brazil's steel industry is forging ahead on growing demand from an expanding economy, adding to upward pressure on iron ore prices, while foreign steelmakers are moving in to get closer to ore reserves, sector experts said. Brazilian crude steel output in the first nine months of this year soared about 10 percent on year-ago levels to 25 million tonnes, led by demand for long-rolled steel from the civil construction sector and the car industry as Brazil's interest rates fall and salaries rise.

Brazil's Lula says deal on Doha trade round close
Reuters, 10/22/2007

The Doha round of global trade negotiations still faces obstacles but a deal is possible by the end of the year, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Monday.
"Nothing is decided yet but I think we are close to that," Lula said on his weekly radio program.

Brazil criticizes 'irrational' US stance in global trade talks
The Associated Press, 10/10/2007

Brazil criticized what it called an "irrational" U.S. position in struggling global trade talks, a day after Washington said a liberalization pact was in peril because developing countries were refusing to open up their manufacturing markets. The United States has been seeking to divert attention away from its unwillingness to accept significant cuts in farm subsidies, six years into the World Trade Organization talks, said Roberto Azevedo, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry's top trade official, on Wednesday.

Fair Trade in Bloom
The New York Times, 10/02/2007

Rafael de Paiva was skeptical at first. If he wanted a “fair trade” certification for his coffee crop, the Brazilian farmer would have to adhere to a long list of rules on pesticides, farming techniques, recycling and other matters. He even had to show that his children were enrolled in school. Like consumer awareness of organic products a decade ago, fair trade awareness is growing. In 2006, 27 percent of Americans said they were aware of the certification, up from 12 percent in 2004, according to a study by the New-York based National Coffee Association. Fair trade products that have experienced the biggest jump in demand include coffee, cocoa and cotton, according to the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations.

September

U.S., Brazil revive hopes for trade breakthrough
Reuters, 9/24/2007

Hopes for a breakthrough in the Doha Round of world trade talks grew on Monday after the presidents of the United States and Brazil both said they were willing to be flexible on farm subsidies and import tariffs.

A Trade Deal on The Ropes
The Washington Post, 9/24/2007

The World Trade Organization and global trade itself are at a critical crossroads, with one last chance to salvage the Doha round of talks. Failure would be disastrous for the WTO, would be particularly harmful to the least developed countries and could lead to a breakdown of the multilateral trade system. The Doha round of talks, which began in November 2001, promised special benefits to developing countries and also included more direct involvement in negotiations by countries with emerging economies, such as Brazil and India.

Lula convinced of global trade deal
The Associated Press, 9/11/2007

Lula said Tuesday that he was "convinced" that rich and poor countries would resolve disputes that have bogged down global trade talks. The WTO talks, launched in Doha, have come to a standstill because of differences between the United States, the European Union, Brazil and India on eliminating trade barriers to agricultural produce and manufactured goods. "Everyone knows what they want. Now we need to know whether the numbers will meet… I am convinced that we can come to an agreement, even if it's not that agreement we've all dreamed of in all the poorest countries,” President Lula told reporters during a visit to Stockholm.

Brazil’s Central Bank President says country to survive investment cuts
Bloomberg, 8/19/07

Brazil's central bank President Henrique Meirelles said the country is “well-positioned” to withstand a reduction in foreign investment flows triggered by a global credit rout, O Globo newspaper reported. Meirelles said in an interview with Globo today that the country has about $160 billion in international reserves to help the nation weather a decrease in dollars flowing into the country. Meirelles also said the government has sold currency-hedging contracts to financial institutions that will allow the government to reduce its debt in case the Brazilian currency weakens against the dollar, Globo said.

July

Canada’s Governor General talks up Canada-Brazil trade
Financial Post, 7/10/07

Canada wants to double its trade relations with Brazil by 2012, to about $16 billion a year, Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean told businesspeople and diplomats in Brazil's largest city. The two countries are enjoying the best trade relations in decades, as the ugly dispute between aircraft makers Bombardier and Embraer are long behind them. Four hundred Canadian companies invest in Brazil, 100 of them with permanent offices, like Alcan, Nortel and Quebecor World. Brazilian powerhouse Companhia Vale do Rio Doce acquired Canada's second-largest mining company, Inco Ltd. This made Canada one of the top countries for Brazilian foreign

Brazil, others push outside Doha for Trade pacts
Wall Street Journal, 7/5/07

Brazil's exploration of a free-trade deal with the European Union highlights an important shift in the trade agenda of emerging economies: They are drifting away from a comprehensive global compact and toward bilateral agreements they hope will help them better compete with China's export juggernaut. Countries with fast-growing export sectors, such as Brazil, India and South Korea, are disengaging from the multilateral trade talks launched in Doha, Qatar, in 2001. Nations such as Brazil -- holding its first talks with the EU this week -- are increasingly wary of a multilateral deal because it would mandate tariff cuts, exposing them more deeply to low-cost competition from China.

Brazil has ‘legitimate demands’ in Global trade talks
Bloomberg, 7/4/07

Brazil's demands for lower duties on its soybean, orange juice and beef exports are “legitimate,” said European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, signaling a determination to wrap up global trade talks. We all stand to gain from a Doha success, but Brazil stands to gain more than most,' Mandelson said today at an EU- Brazil meeting in Lisbon, according to a copy of his remarks e- mailed by his Brussels office. While “Brazil has legitimate demands” for cuts in commodity tariffs, it must offer tougher ceilings on industrial import duties, he said. “Brazil's industry can sustain limited steps of this sort.”

With governmental help, Brazilian companies expand global presence
Estado de S. Paulo, 7/2/07

While Brazilian multinationals are set to invest around $1 billion abroad, Lula’s government prepares set supporting policy agenda. Of the more notable actions taken by Brazilian multinationals on the international stage were the acquisitions of the American company Swift by Friboi (creating the world’s largest meat exporter) and Vale de Rio Doce’s acquisition of the Canadian mining company, Inco. There are several reasons that compel Brazilian companies to invest abroad: proximity to customers or raw materials, lower interest rates and longer financing availability. Possibly the most notable reason is that many Brazilian companies are simply growing too large for its domestic market.

June

India, Brazil face ire from developing nations at WTO
The Economic Times of India, 6/25/07

A group of Latin American and Asian members of the World Trade Organization proposed on Monday a "middle ground" in talks to liberalize trade in manufactured goods - a sign that developing countries are breaking ranks with Brazil and India. The proposal, calls for greater concessions by both rich and poor countries as part of efforts at reaching a new global trade pact and comes only days after talks among the WTO's four biggest powers collapsed in Potsdam over eliminating barriers to farm and manufacturing imports. Signed by Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Thailand, the offer would open up industrial markets in the developing world to greater foreign competition than under proposals made last week by Brazil and India.

Once again, trade effort stumbles on subsidies
New York Times, 6/22/07

A high-level meeting aimed at salvaging global trade talks collapsed Thursday when the United States and the European Union fell out with India and Brazil over plans to cut agricultural subsidies and tariffs. The four members of the World Trade Organization were trying to break a persistent deadlock over an issue that has bedeviled the Doha round of negotiations since 2001: how much rich countries will reduce the domestic farm subsidies that have distorted trade in commodities like cotton, sugar and corn. The failure of the talks appears to have defeated the strategy of bringing together the United States, Europe, Brazil and India — a grouping known as the G-4 — to resolve serious differences before turning to the entire membership of the W.T.O., comprising 150 countries. For related news coverage, follow the Reuters and Bloomberg articles.

US, Brazil wrangle over farm subsidies
Associated Press, 6/19/07

The United States and Brazil disagreed Tuesday over how far the U.S. should cut farm subsidies as part of a global trade pact, officials said, as the World Trade Organization's four most powerful members began five days of crunch trade talks. The meeting involving the U.S., European Union, Brazil and India has been described as crucial if the WTO is to succeed in concluding a deal to liberalize world by the end of the year. Critics of the subsidies say they unfairly depress international prices, making it impossible for poorer nations to develop their economies by selling their agricultural products abroad.

Brazil’s Lula says low inflation as vital as growth
Reuters, 6/18/07

Brazil is committed to responsible economic policies and low inflation is vital, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Monday."We're not going to play around with the economy," Lula said on state radio."Obviously we could be growing more ... but distributing income and controlling inflation are just as important." Lula, who followed a market-friendly economic policy on his first term despite his leftist background, said he would do everything necessary to make sure Brazil's economy kept gaining credibility. Stability was the best thing for the working class, he said.

Brazil’s foreign minister confident on Doha deal
Reuters, 5/31/07

Brazil's foreign minister said on Thursday he is "rather confident" a deal will be reached in the Doha round of global trade talks in coming weeks. Minister Celso Amorim also told Reuters that Brazil would show flexibility in its tariff offer on manufactured products, provided the talks continued to go well. Amorim and representatives from India, the European Union and the United States will hold another round of talks for two weeks beginning on Friday.

Brazil food companies move closer to global stage
Market Watch, 5/29/07

Two recently announced international acquisitions by leading Brazilian food companies seem to be setting the stage. Although analysts say there may not yet be a trend, they emphasize that Brazilian companies are looking beyond their borders and their region. On Tuesday, a much larger deal was announced, with JBS SA saying it would pay $1.4 billion to acquire privately held Swift Foods Co., the third-largest U.S. beef and pork processor which also has operations in Australia. The purchase would make JBS's meatpacker, the Friboi Group, the world's No. 1 beef company, toppling Tyson Foods. It would also give Friboi unprecedented access to the U.S., the world's leading beef consuming nation.

Brazil to get investment grade in 2008 - analysts
Reuters, 5/17/07

Brazil may become an investment-grade country as early as next year, Wall Street banks forecast on Thursday, after Standard & Poor's upgraded the country's credit ratings to "BB+" and maintained a positive outlook on its debt.

India, Brazil reject manufacturing concessions, but U.S. Congress can kill WTO deal
Associated Press, 5/9/07

Six years into negotiations on a new global commerce pact, World Trade Organization members are still arguing over whether emerging economic powers such as India and Brazil should have to make real cuts in manufacturing tariffs — a debate that will surely fail to impress U.S. Congressmen able to kill any new deal. Pascal Lamy, the WTO director-general, said Wednesday that it "remains to be seen" whether developing countries would have to allow for any real opening of their industrial markets, in exchange for the significant cuts in farm subsidies and tariffs they are demanding from the U.S., EU, Japan and other rich nations.

April

Much of Brazil growth plan doomed to drawing board
Reuters, 4/24/07

More than half the transport projects in a $29 billion growth acceleration package (PAC) that Brazil's government outlined in January will not get beyond the planning stages, a leading think-tank said on Tuesday. "The money planned for the transport sector is the highest level of investment as a percentage of GDP (gross domestic product) that we've seen in history," said engineer Paulo Resende, of the Dom Cabral Foundation. But Resende cites conflicting interests between the state and federal governments and an unmotivated Congress as an obstacle for the PAC’s success. Despite a revised GDP outlook for 2007 (now 4.2%), infrastructure could be the biggest bottleneck for Brazil’s future growth, considering its existing system is inadequate and investment is appallingly low.

IPEA ups Brazil’s 2007 GDP outlook
Reuters, 4/19/07

A leading government think tank raised its estimate for Brazil's 2007 gross domestic product growth to 4.2 percent on Friday, just weeks after the government broadened its methodology for calculating GDP to bring it in line with international standards. Other economists are also raising their forecasts for GDP growth following the change in methodology. A weekly central bank survey released Monday showed that on average market economists now expect Brazil to grow 4.0 percent this year, up from 3.5 percent a month ago.

The Economist’s Survey: Brazil

Land of Promise
Economist, 4/12/07

Brazil is big, democratic, stable and rich in resources. So why is it not doing a lot better? On Thursday, the Economist published a special survey of Brazil aiming to answer this and other questions about Brazil’s prospective future. Below are the links to each article in the survey (subscription required).

Brazilian currency set to hit fresh peak
Financial Times, 4/11/07

The Brazilian real is closing in on the R$2.00 to the US dollar level for the first time since February 2001, in spite of sustained intervention by Brazil’s central bank to prevent the currency from strengthening further. CreditSights, a New York firm of analysts. But he warned the currency’s strength, driven by high commodity prices, was unlikely to be sustained over the medium term.

A bumpy ride on a Brazilian Highway, and long waits at either end
New York Times, 4/6/07

Inconveniently, the expansion of soybean farming in Brazil is near the center of the South American continent, and more than a thousand miles from the nearest saltwater port. That leaves the region’s farmers to pay the soaring costs of freight. As the volume increases, Brazil’s transport networks appear fraught with potential chokepoints. The infrastructure remains strained despite government promises of improvement. BR-163, the main highway, opened in 1970 as a two-lane road to accommodate a small number of farmers, was not designed to withstand 10 million tons of soy cargo.

Brazil adviser says Bank of the South “Inconsistent”
Bloomberg, 4/5/07

Brazil considers Venezuela's and Argentina's proposed Bank of the South “inconsistent”' and backs the creation of a broader South American financial system instead, Efe reported, citing Marco Aurelio Garcia, foreign policy adviser to Brazil's President Lula. The regional development bank is “relevant,” but should form part of a wider framework to promote bigger plans, such as those proposed by Brazil and Argentina to start trading in their national currencies instead of the dollar in coming months, Garcia said.

Brazil’s Embraer to invest $40 mln in Asian expansion
Reuters, 4/4/07

Brazilian planemaker Embraer said on Wednesday that it would spend $40 million this year on expanding its Asian business after its order book for Asia Pacific and China reached 128 aircraft. Embraer said in November that it aimed to sell at least 200 jets in Asia, excluding China, over the next two decades with most of the demand coming from India, Japan and Australia.

March

Brazil real weakens as Central Bank buys dollars on sport mkt
Bloomberg, 3/27/07

Brazil's real fell on speculation the central bank may increase the size of its daily dollar purchases on the spot market to slow the local currency's appreciation. “If the bank doesn't buy dollars, the U.S. currency is going to melt on the local market,” said Marcelo Ribeiro, the head of currency trading at Sao Paulo-based Concordia Corretora.

Bigger than thought
The Economist, 3/22/07

Brazil's economy is better off than generally realized. New data reveal that in 2005 the economy was 10.9 percent bigger than previously thought, and that since 2000 Brazil has grown at an annual average rate of 3 percent, not 2.6. This means that last year net public debt was probably 45 percent of GDP, not 50 percent, that the tax burden claimed 32 percent of GDP in 2003, not 34, and that income per head grew 4.5 percent a year between 1987 and 2002, not 1.5. However, rates of investment were downgraded: gross spending on fixed capital was not 19.9 percent of GDP but 16.3.

Equity Int’l sees now moment to invest in Brazil
Reuters, 3/21/07

Brazil is on the verge of disproving an old adage that it is perpetually the land of the future, the chief executive of realty investor Equity International said on Wednesday.
Gary Garrabrant said Brazil offers tremendous opportunities, citing the likelihood of an investment grade credit rating sooner than analysts think, low inflation and a growing middle class.

Brazil revises GDP upwards for 2002 through 2005
Reuters, 3/21/07

Brazil's economy grew more than previously estimated between 2002 and 2005 under a revised methodology that adds more segments of the economy to the calculation, the government said on Wednesday. According to the national statistics agency IBGE 2005 GDP growth rose from 2.3 percent to 2.9 percent.

Brazil must do bit more for investment grade: S&P
Reuters, 3/20/07

Mexico, a country with an investment grade rating, still has time to improve the government's fiscal profile while Brazil must do a bit more to gain the coveted rating, a director at ratings agency Standard & Poor's said on Tuesday. There is no specific, dramatic reform or passage of any particular legislation that would raise Brazil to investment grade, said Joydeep Mukherji, a director of sovereign credit at Standard & Poor's. Steady progress on a variety of fronts -- tax reform, more infrastructure investment and especially stronger economic growth -- will lead to investment grade, he said.

The perils of being first
Wall Street Journal, 3/20/07

The brand was Sambazon, and its product was the frozen pulp of a Brazilian berry called açaí (pronounced ah-sigh-ee), which was chock full of antioxidants and healthy Omega fats. The fruit was virtually unknown in the U.S., and these two brothers who ran Sambazon Inc., Ryan and Jeremy Black, by most accounts, were the first U.S. supplier.

Brazil’s currency advances after exports higher than expected
Bloomberg, 3/19/07

Brazil's currency rose after a weekly government report showed exports were higher than analysts expected. Brazilian exports totaled $2.76 billion last week, giving the country a trade surplus of $706 million, the government said. Exports were $2.87 billion the previous week.

Brazil’s Petrobras, partners buying Ipiranga for nearly $4 billion
Associated Press, 3/19/07

Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras and two partners announced a deal Monday to buy Ipiranga, the No. 2 fuel distributor and refiner in Latin America’s largest nation, for nearly $4 billion (euro3 billion) in cash and stock. Petroleo Brasileiro SA and chemical company Braskem SA will pay about $2.4 billion (euro1.8 billion) in cash, and fuel distributor and refiner Grupo Ultra will issue new shares for the rest, said Percio de Souza, an adviser to the three purchasers.

Brazil’s Petrobras will export ethanol to U.S.
Associated Press, 3/15/07

An official from Brazil's state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro, or Petrobras, said the company plans to start exporting ethanol to the United States in 2007. Silas Oliva Filho, manager of ethanol and oxygenates at Petrobras, said during a sugar and ethanol conference in São Paulo on Thursday that the company planned to enter the U.S. ethanol market for the first time in 2007.

Brazil oil output rises slightly in February
Reuters, 3/20/07

Domestic oil output by Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras rose 1.1 percent in February from the previous month after resuming production at the P-37 rig in the Marlim field. Petrobras, which accounts for nearly all crude production and refining in Latin America's largest country, said in a statement on Tuesday that it pumped an average of 1.805 million barrels per day last month.

Brazil in talks for CAF membership
Business Week, 3/18/07

Brazil's government is negotiating with the Andean Development Corporation to become a fully-fledged member, which would require an investment of about US$1 billion (euro0.75 billion), Brazilian Planning Minister Paulo Bernardo said Sunday. "We are in a phase of negotiations to become full members of CAF," as the development bank is known, Bernardo said. "We already have the go-ahead from President (Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva) to proceed with this operation."

Goldman gears up for Brazil growth with new bank
Reuters, 3/15/07

Goldman Sachs, the biggest U.S. securities firm by market value, is building up its team of research analysts and trading business in Brazil as it gears up for a growing business in the country, a senior executive said on Thursday. The firm has been operating a full bank in Brazil since December, when it received its license from the central bank. The new bank marked Goldman's biggest move in Brazil since talks broke down in late 2005 to buy local investment bank Pactual.

Brazil falls on mortgage report
Wall Street Journal, 3/13/07

Brazilian stocks slumped Tuesday, following U.S. stocks lower, amid concerns over the U.S. subprime mortgage market. The broader market, as measured by the benchmark Ibovespa stocks index, ended 3.4% lower at 42749 points amid heavy trading. Bovespa slipped, following Wall Street, after a U.S. Mortgage Bankers Association's report showed the delinquency rate for residential mortgage loans rose 28 basis points to 4.9% in the fourth quarter. The rise was most notably in subprime loans.

Brazil ‘must lift barriers’ to new infrastructure
Financial Times, 3/2/07

A new report by the World Bank points to a serious shortage of infrastructure investment in Brazil and calls for the removal of regulatory barriers to private sector investment which it says is essential to revitalise the sector. The report, to be released later this week, will add to concern that the government’s recently announced plans to boost economic growth primarily through public sector investment will fail to match expectations and leave the country falling further behind its emerging market peers.

Brazil economy grows 2.9 percent in 2006
Associated Press, 3/2/07

A spurt in fourth-quarter growth helped Brazil's economy to expand 2.9 percent last year, slightly more than analysts expected, the government said Wednesday. Analysts had predicted Brazil's economy would grow 2.8 percent for all of 2006. It is South America's largest economy. Industrial and agricultural output fed a 3.8 percent rise in gross domestic product in the October-December period versus a year ago, the Brazilian Census Bureau said. That was above the 3.3 percent increase expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.

February

Brazil’s stocks in biggest freefall since 9/11
Reuters, 2/27/07

Brazil's stocks plunged on Tuesday to their biggest loss since Sept. 11, 2001, and its currency sank as sharp losses on Chinese equities markets spread around the world and doubts mounted about the U.S. economy's health. The Bovespa index of the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange fell 6.63 percent to close at 43,145 points on heavy volume of about $2.5 billion. Only last week the index hit a record high. Before the drop in Chinese stocks of nearly 9 percent, Brazilian asset prices had soared for much of the past three years as foreign investors poured cash into emerging markets, seeking higher returns in exchange for greater risks.

Brazil to increase output of ethanol by 1,500 percent
Taipei Times, 2/26/07

South America's rising economic giant could produce enough ethanol to replace 10 percent of world gasoline in 20 years. The Brazilian project, developed with the participation of the government and state-owned oil giant Petrobas, would multiply by 15 times the country's current production of ethanol from sugar cane. The ramp-up would push Brazilian ethanol exports to 200 billion liters in the coming 20 years, up from the roughly 3 billion liters currently exported, Rogerio Cesar Cerqueira Leite, a professor emeritus at Campinas University, told reporters.

Brazil pushes foreign stakes in airlines
Associated Press, 2/23/07

Rules restricting ownership of Brazilian airlines should be relaxed to let foreign companies control much larger stakes, a leading government aviation official said Friday. The limit on foreign participation in Brazilian airlines should be boosted from the current 20 percent to 49 percent, said National Civil Aviation Authority President Milton Zuanazzi, according to the Agencia Estado news service. Raising the cap on foreign ownership would likely increase foreign investment in South America's largest air travel market.

Brazil stocks break a new record
Wall Street Journal, 2/21/07

Brazilian blue-chip shares closed at a record high Thursday for the second-consecutive day, with rising prices for commodity metals and oil driving key shares upward. Canadian and Mexican markets slipped. In Brazil, broader market as measured by the benchmark Ibovespa stocks index closed 0.8% higher at 46452 points, up from Wednesday's close at 46090 points. Higher prices for copper, zinc and other commodity metals boosted shares of miner Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, or CVRD. CVRD shares jumped 1% to end at 66.04 reals.

Emerging debt – Good risk appetite, Brazil outlook ups market
Reuters, 2/6/07

Emerging government debt spreads were close to their tightest level on record as investors's appetite for risk continued to improve, helped by a positive revision of Brazil's credit by Fitch Ratings. Fitch Ratings on Tuesday revised Brazil's credit outlook to positive from stable while keeping its rating at "BB," citing a rapid improvement in the country's external accounts The news drove foreign investors to snap up local securities seeking to boost returns which in turn drove the Bovespa stock index to a record and the real currency to a nine-month high.

Brazil to double ethanol exports - minister
Reuters, 2/4/07

Brazil hopes to double its ethanol exports by 2010 to meet growing demand for the alternative fuel, largely from Japan and Sweden, Finance Minister Guido Mantega was quoted as telling the Times newspaper in an interview. He also urged Britain to use more ethanol as part of the fight against global warming, according to the British daily. Brazil aimed to increase its ethanol exports to $1.3 billion in 2010 from $600 million in 2005.

Investment grade eludes Brazil
Wall Street Journal, 2/1/07

Chronic government deficits, slow economic growth and an unfriendly business climate aren't just delaying Brazil's dream of winning investment-grade status. They are also causing it to lag further behind its biggest emerging-market peers. The move left Brazil an order of magnitude below its colleagues in the so-called BRIC group of emerging-market titans -- Brazil, Russia, India and China.

January

Tata Steel wins Corus with £6.2bn offer
Financial Times, 1/31/07

Tata Steel of India won the battle to control Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus with a £6.2bn ($12.2bn) offer on Wednesday, after more than eight hours of head-to-head bidding against Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional of Brazil. Tata was declared the winner with a bid of 608p a share in cash, against CSN’s bid of 603p a share. The Tata bid valued Corus at about £6.7bn including debt – far above earlier analysts’ and market estimates.
Financial Times timeline of the deal

Brazil stock rise led by Petrobras, currency gains
Reuters, 1/30/07

Brazil's stocks and currency gained on Tuesday, with oil giant Petrobas surging on higher global petroleum prices. The Bovespa index of the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange rose 1.08 percent to 44,044 points. The Brazilian real gained 0.23 percent to 2.131 per U.S. dollar, even as the central bank again bought dollars on the spot market to boost foreign reserves. State-controlled oil giant Petrobras rose 2.3 percent to 46.31 reais, tracking international crude prices.

Brazil announces record US$845M budget to promote tourism
International Herald Tribune, 1/30/07

On the eve of Carnival, Brazil's Tourism Ministry on Tuesday announced a record US$845 million (€654 million) budget for an annual campaign to attract more visitors to Latin America's largest country. The budget "is the biggest in the history of tourism in the country," Minister Walfrido dos Mares Guia said on the ministry's Web site. Brazil expects to gain US$9 billion to US$10 billion (€7 billion to €7.7 billion) in tourism revenue by 2010, Mares Guia said.

Stirred, but not shaken up
The Economist, 1/25/07

Brazil’s government recently announced a growth-acceleration package to address the country’s mediocre economic growth. The PAC promises $236 billion of investment in infrastructure and housing, along with mild tax cuts aimed at construction, infrastructure, and small business. The Industry views the plan as a step in the right direction, although many have criticized the PAC for not doing more to attack the fundamental causes of low growth: excessive spending and debt. Furthermore, most of the promised investment is what state-owned companies were already planning to spend, and nearly all this year’s tax cuts were already enacted.

Soccer, Samba and Outsourcing?
Wall Street Journal, 1/25/07

Robert Lazarski, a computer programmer from Denver, met a Brazilian girl on a train in Europe. Soon they married and moved to a beach city on Brazil's northern coast, and Mr. Lazarski was looking for work. So he hung out a shingle on the Internet: outsourcing.
Outsourcing seems to be working out well for South America's most populous nation, too. With a spate of information-technology deals, Brazil appears poised to be Latin America's big winner in the global outsourcing boom. Last year, Gap Inc. moved computer work to Brazil as part of a 10 year, $1.1 billion contract with International Business Machines Corp.

Brazil’s Petrobras to ship ethanol to Nigeria
International Herald Tribune, 1/25/07

Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras said Thursday it will begin shipping ethanol to Nigeria in February. Petrobras, or Petroleo Brasileiro SA, made the announcement after reaching a deal with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., the Brazilian company said in a statement. Petrobras is already shipping ethanol to Venezuela, another large oil producer. The Brazilian company also plans to help both countries build an ethanol industry of their own.

Cool response to Brazil plan to fire up economy
LA Times, 1/23/07

When Brazil's stagnant economy can be blamed for unrest caused by unemployed youths or headline-grabbing shootouts between police and drug gangs, expectations run high when the president promises a new spending plan. But after Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil unveiled his proposals Monday, hoping to get his second term off to a positive start, analysts were struck more by what his plan didn't do.

CVRD to invest heavily in Brazil infrastructure
Reuters, 1/23/07

CVRD (Companhia Vale do Rio Doce), the world's largest iron ore miner, will unveil its 2007 investment budget this week, including hefty investments in Brazil's infrastructure and overseas mining projects. Lula unveiled an ambitious 500-billion-real ($235-billion) infrastructure investment plan on Monday, but he said the government will spend only 68 billion reais while state-run and private companies are expected to contribute the rest.

Brazil river diversion set to go
Associated Press, 1/23/07

Officials say they will probably launch work next month on a huge river-diversion project meant to benefit millions by irrigating large sections of the country's arid northeast, despite claims it will cause widespread environmental damage. The project, which will cost an estimated $2 billion, will create a new channel for the 1,600-mile Sao Francisco River, Brazil's fourth-largest, to irrigate much of the country's arid Sertao region.

Brazil’s Lula to unveil growth package
Financial Times, 1/21/07

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will on Monday unveil measures designed to double Brazil’s economic growth rate, amid concern that his government’s reluctance to address fundamental fiscal and other problems will hold the economy back. The package, the announcement of which has been delayed repeatedly since the president was re-elected in October, is expected to include tax breaks worth R$10bn over four years to stimulate private-sector investment.

Brazil’s biofuel strategy pays off as gas prices soar
Washington Post, 1/18/07

Outside the cavernous Sao Martinho refinery, the air smells of molasses as a quarter-mile-long caravan of trucks piled high with sugar cane waits to unload cargo, signs that the world's largest sugar harvest is moving into high gear. Such bumper sugar crops have often meant worldwide gluts, low prices and headaches for politicians in the more than 100 countries where sugar cane is grown, but not this year in Brazil. About half the cane brought here will be made into ethanol as part of a 30-year gamble to substitute fuels made from crops for imported oil.

Brazil to join Canada challenge of U.S. subsidies
Reuters Canada, 1/19/07

Brazil and Guatemala have moved to join Canada's challenge of U.S. subsidies for corn farmers, which Ottawa says depress corn prices in Canada, Canadian officials said on Friday. Brazil has written to the United States requesting to be a third party in a 60-day consultation period on U.S. supports for its corn farmers, said Rob Krystynak, a Canadian embassy official in Washington. Earlier this month, Ottawa launched a challenge at the World Trade Organization against the subsidies, which it says average almost $9 billion a year. If consultations prove fruitless, the next step for Ottawa would be to present a case at the World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body.

Brazil’s Petrobras gets S&P investment grade
Reuters, 1/19/07

Brazilian oil giant Petrobras late on Thursday received an investment grade rating by Standard & Poor's, a move seen as likely to help reduce the company's borrowing costs and increase the pool of investors that can buy its securities. S&P rated Petrobras local and foreign currency long-term credit rating BBB-, the lowest in the investment grade category and two notches above Brazil's BB rating. Petrobras had no previous rating by S&P.

Brazil and Russia are investor’s favorite emerging markets
Bloomberg News, 1/17/07

Investors in emerging-market stocks are optimistic about the outlook for earnings and favor Brazil and Russia, according to a survey by Merrill Lynch & Co. India is the least preferred market. Eighty percent of respondents in the survey said they have a so-called "overweight" position in Brazilian shares, or hold more than are represented in benchmarks. Seventy-two percent of investors said the same about Russian stocks. Brazil's Bovespa Index rose for a fourth year in 2006, climbing 33 percent.

Brazil’s stocks, currency fall on oil price drop
Reuters, 1/16/07

Brazil's stocks and currency fell on Tuesday on concern a slump in the price of oil and other commodities may reduce investment flows to Latin America's largest economy. The Sao Paulo Stock Exchange's benchmark Bovespa Index fell 0.4 percent to 42,743.48 points, while the Brazilian real weakened 0.19 percent to 2.146 per U.S. dollar. Oil prices continued on a downward trend, trading near the lowest levels in 19 months, while prices of zinc, aluminum and other commodities also declined. The decline in commodity prices may affect exports from Brazil, a major global player in iron ore, sugar, coffee and other soft commodities, and investment flows to the country.

CVRD leads Brazil's move further afield
Financial Times, 1/11/07

The $17.6 billion acquisition of Canadian miner Inco by Brazil's CVRD not only made the company the second-biggest mining group in the world in terms of market capitalization, but also produced a landmark year for Brazil in terms of inward and outward investment. For the first time ever, investment overseas by Brazilian companies was bigger in 2006 than foreign direct investment into Brazil. This reflects not only the remarkable dynamism of many of Brazil's most successful companies, but also sluggish markets at home.

Fiat top seller in record year
Miami Herald, 1/11/07

Fiat was Brazil's top-selling automaker again in 2006, when Brazilian motor vehicle production set a record for the third consecutive year. Volkswagen and General Motors were Brazil's second and third top-selling companies, respectively.

Good harvest to boost economy
Latin News, 1/09/07

The important agricultural machinery sector announced yesterday that they expect the better harvest in 2007 will boost sales by 13 percent. If agricultural machinery sales accelerate in 2007, as the industry expects, the overall economy should grow by close to 5 percent. Such sales have fallen by 40 percent in the past four years, although they recovered by 10 percent in 2006, compared with 2005.

Bulldozer required: Lula begins his second term with a pledge to unblock Brazil's sluggish economy
The Economist, 1/04/07

Despite slow growth under Lula (the economy grew by an average of just 2.6 percent during his four-year term in office), Brazil's economy is poised to take off to 3.5-4 percent this year. Inflation is low, interest rates are falling, and the economy is safe from foreign shocks. However, a concerted reform effort is needed: public spending is excessive and badly targeted, regulations are heavy-handed, the tax burden is stifling growth, and investment is lagging. Lula is slowly removing some impediments but is also creating others, such as this year's 5.3 real rise in the minimum wage and politically motivated wage increases that will inflate the already intolerable cost of state-financed pensions.

Inco Shareholders OK Sale to CVRD
Miami Herald, 1/04/07

Inco shareholders approved the final sale shares to Brazil's Cia. Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), clearing the way for the completion of a $16.55 billion takeover of the Canadian nickel producer.

U.S. and Brazil to Talk About Talks
New York Times, 1/03/07

Top U.S. and Brazilian trade negotiators will meet in New York to discuss global trade talks that collapsed last year. Foreign Minister Celso Amorim will talk with U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab on how to reopen the negotiations and overcome obstacles after the collapse of the WTO Doha Round over disagreements on farm subsidies and tariffs.

Drug costs imperil Brazil AIDS fight
Boston Globe, 1/03/07

A decade after Brazil became the first developing country to guarantee free AIDS treatment to every citizen by producing generic antiretrovirals, the spiraling cost of new drugs is threatening to bankrupt the highly effective program. This program slashed annual AIDS deaths in half to 11,000 in 2005, and Brazil's adult prevalence rate is lower than in the United States. Soaring prices for new drugs are pushing the government to cut costs by making generics of drugs that are still under patent. Under a WTO declaration, any country may copy patented drugs if its government deems it necessary to protect publich health, but Brazil fears U.S. reprisals. The United States has trade regulations allowing it to retaliate against any country imperiling the business of a U.S. company.

Brazil Posts Record Trade Surplus in '06
Houston Chronicle, 1/02/07

Strong exports and shrinking oil imports pushed Brazil's trade surplus to a record US$ 46.07 billion in 2006, up from the previous high of US$ 44.7 billion in 2005, according to the Development, Industry, and Foreign Trade Ministry. International demand for Brazilian raw materials such as iron ore remained strong, dispelling pessimism over the trade surplus because of continued gains by the Brazilian real against the U.S. dollar which should have hurt exports and increased imports.

December 2006

Diamonds’ Glitter Fades for a Brazilian Tribe
New York Times, 12/29/06

The exploitation of diamonds in the Roosevelt Indigenous area has brought more misfortune than riches. Outside miners have not only brought wealth but drink, drugs, disease, and prostitution. Two year ago, members of the Cinta-Larga tribe killed 29 miners who were working without their permission at the mine on the reservation. As a compromise, the Brazilian government offered a community development grant in exchange for shutting down the mine in order to preclude the possibility of armed confrontation. However, monthly payments for debts incurred through lavish purchases might convince the tribe to reopen the mines again.

Six countries could lose US trade benefits - USTR
Reuters, 12/20/06

Six countries, including Brazil, India, and Venezuela, could lose duty-free access to the U.S. market in 2007 for some of their key exports under a revamped U.S. trade program signed into law today by President Bush. Motivated in large part by frustration in world trade talks, Brazil would lose duty-free access for brake and brake parts, as well as ferrozirconium.

Brazil to Seek Steel Tariff Protection
Houston Chronicle, 12/20/06

Fearing a flood of cheap imports, the Brazilian steel industry announced plans to ask the government to raise the tariffs on Chinese steel. In 2006, China became the world's biggest steel exporter. While Brazil imports relatively little Chinese steel, the Brazilian Steel Institute fears that tariff barriers in Japan, Mexico, and the United States will make Brazil a target market for China. However, China buys huge amounts of Brazilian iro ore, a key ingredient in steel.

Brazil's ethanol has its Aim debut
Financial Times, 12/18/06

A £100 million investment vehicle specializing in Brazilian ethanol production is to list on the London Stock Exchange today. Clean Energy Brazil will invest in production facilities in Brazil, the world's biggest producer of ethanol for fuel. It will use existing ethanol production sites and "greenfield sites" to grow sugar and to set up ethanol factories.

China and Brazil prepare for arm-wrestle over global prices
Financial Times, 12/14/06

China has taken the lead in talks as the steel industry currently negotiates the cost of iron ore heading into the new year. As supply is expected to remain tight in 2007, Brazil's Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), the world's largest iron ore producer, is looking for a 20 to 25 per cent rise in prices for next year. Analysts anticipate that China will continue to see a growing demand for iron ore imports in 2007, with most of the increase fed by Brazil.

Gas Smugglers Dodge the Law in Brazil and Venezuela
New York Times, 12/07/06

Huge differences in the price of gas between Venezuela and Brazil have aided recent growth of a contraband market for fuel. While many Brazilians cross the border in search of gas prices at 17 cents per gallon, both governments have sought to stem smuggling across the border. Despite their efforts, a number of individuals continue to act as gas brokers in the illegal trade.

India and China are the only real Brics in the wall
Financial Times, 12/04/06 (Article plus Commentary)

While Brazil, China, India and Russia are all characterized as giant emerging economies, it is possible to distinguish between China and India's investments in "intellectual capital" on the one hand and Brazil and Russia's reliance on high commodity prices on the other.

GDP grows 0.5% quarter-on-quarter
Latin News, 12/01/06

Brazil's economy expanded 0.5 percent quarter-on-quarter between July and September. While an increase from the same period last year, the low rate was "disappointing" for many, including Finance Minister Guido Mantega. The government is has aimed GDP growth of 3.2 percent, though economists predict results just short of 3 percent. Members of the opposition claim that Lula committed "electoral fraud" by saying on the campaign trail that the economy was going to grow at 4 percent despite knowledge to the contrary.

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