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Latin American stocks were mixed, with Brazilian stocks posting modest gains amid positive trade data, while Mexican shares followed the U.S. market higher. On the downside, Argentine issues tumbled on profit taking following a five-day rally.
Brazil's Bovespa Index added 102.04 points, or 0.27%. Mexico's benchmark Bolsa Index rose 255.28 points, or 1.35%, while Argentina's Merval Index dropped 46.82 points, or 2.61%. Brazilian stocks edged cautiously higher, as investors continued to assess the implications of Tuesday's (January 31) suggestion by the U.S. Federal Reserve that additional interest-rate hikes may be on tap. Some investors are concerned that further U.S. rate hikes at a time when Brazilian rates are falling could divert funds away from Brazilian bonds and stocks into U.S. treasuries. At the same time, however, a number of analysts have been bullish on the market's prospects this year given expectations of solid local economic growth and further interest-rate cuts. Adding to optimism about the Brazilian economy, the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade said today that Brazil posted a sizeable US$ 2.84 billion trade surplus in January, meeting market estimates, which ranged from US$ 2.6 billion to US$ 3.0 billion. The result was up from a year-earlier surplus of US$ 2.19 billion but below December's surplus of $ 4.35 billion. January exports totaled US$ 9.27 billion, while imports totaled US$ 6.43 billion. On the corporate front, paper and pulp company Suzano said it will invest US$ 690 million in 2006 in its Mucuri pulp project in southern Bahia state. In earnings news, telecom carrier Tim Participações SA, a unit of the Telecom Italia, reported a fourth-quarter net profit of 145 million reais, up 74% from 83.4 million reais in the year-ago period. Results were helped by a 32.8% increase in its client base and tight cost controls. Separately, the board of Tim Participações approved the incorporation of Tim Celular as its subsidiary, in a move that will organize all of Telecom Italia's Brazilian assets under a single structure. Pending completion of the move, the company will operate under the name of Tim Brasil. Meanwhile, a major investment bank downgraded mining company Caemi to "peer perform" from "outperform," citing a plan by controller Vale do Rio Doce to fully absorb Caemi. "Regulatory approval is still pending, but we do not foresee any issues ... We are not aware of any legal basis for Caemi shareholders to block the deal," the bank said. In other research, an investment bank upgraded utility Eletropaulo to "outperform" from "peer perform," citing an attractive valuation and strong growth prospects. Elsewhere, Mexico's bolsa posted solid gains, as investors were emboldened by a rise in U.S. stocks amid a sharp drop in oil prices and stronger-than-expected earnings from U.S. aerospace giant Boeing. In local corporate news, Mexican mining and railroad company Grupo Mexico SA said it plans to list shares in its transport unit ITM upon receiving antitrust clearance for last year's rail merger. The company added that it is confident that Mexico's Federal Competition Commission will approve the merger. Grupo Mexico's stock rose today, as investors continued to cheer the company's upbeat earnings news yesterday. Meanwhile, AeroMexico ordered six new generation B737 planes from Boeing Co. The order, due for delivery in 2007, is valued at US$ 372 million. Argentine issues dropped, as investors took profits following a five-day run-up in the market. Among the movers, flat steelmaker Siderar tumbled as investors cashed in some of the stock's recent strong gains ahead of new holding company Ternium's listing of ADRs in the U.S. Ternium, which is owned by local conglomerate Techint, said late yesterday that its ADRs priced at US$ 20 apiece, above price talk of US$ 16.50 to US$ 18.50. Also, Petrobras Energia Participaciones dropped after saying it would take a charge of 170 million pesos against its 2005 earnings. Thomson Financial - www.thomsonfinancial.com
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Brazil received a huge boost in its international image with its selection as the host of the 2016 Olympics, but it was really just the cherry on top of the overall recognition of the country's ascension to the ranks of one of the world's most important countries. Now, as it finally takes its place on the world scene, there has been a great deal of concern about what kind of image Brazil hopes to project, now that the world is really paying attention. 
The only good thing to say about the visit to Brazil of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on Monday November 23, is that it was mercifully short and lasted less than 24 hours. Ahmadinejad had his picture taken being hugged by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who gave him a warm welcome and said Iran had every right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. 
The small, coastal town of Condé is located just a twenty minute's drive from João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba. The Northeast of Brazil has historically been a place of encounter and mixing between peoples. For millenia groups of indigenous people fished, farmed, migrated and sometimes fought along this large, fertile area. 
The Brazilian diplo-MÁ-cia (bad diplomacy) carries on its accelerated course towards the non-acknowledgment of human rights, although sometimes it takes pleasure in saying that it does precisely the opposite. The visit of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is another example of a diplomatic omission that verges on hypocrisy. 
On July 4, 2006, representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay met in Caracas to sign the protocol for the entrance of Venezuela into the Southern Common Market (Mercosur). After two and a half years, the protocol was approved by the legislative bodies of Argentina and Uruguay, and as of now it may be only days away from being ratified by the continent's economic megalith, Brazil. 
Some sectors of the fight against AIDS have suggested that Thabo Mbeki, the former president of South Africa, committed genocide through his absence from the fight against the illness in his country throughout his two terms. 
One hundred and eleven years after Brazil abolished slavery, the number of workers deprived of their freedom is still huge. They raise cattle, produce charcoal, sugar cane or timber. Some of them, most undocumented Bolivians, work in basements of small apparel factories in São Paulo and other metropolis. 
On November 7, 2009 a few friends and I had an opportunity to take a look inside a Brazilian jail outside the city of Rio de Janeiro. We were able to take some amateur footage of our experience on video (see link below). It's no surprise, of course, that the typical Brazilian jail lacks some of the functionality of those in North America or Europe, but our experience that day was quite shocking. 
Depletion of the Amazon Rainforest is not a new concern facing environmentalists, biologists, ecologists, and a growing number of the Amazonian indigenous peoples. For decades they have feared for the fate of the world's most biologically diverse and species-rich hothouse. 
Geisy Arruda made history this week in Brazil, but for all the wrong reasons. What began as a poorly planned fashion statement has become a worldwide tale. Geisy decided to wear a pink mini-dress to her private college in São Paulo state, and after that, all hell broke loose.