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Latin American stocks moved collectively higher on the day, with Brazil gaining more than 100 points and Mexican shares again reaching fresh highs. Investors in both the U.S. and Latin America will be eyeing a speech by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke later this evening.
Brazil's Bovespa Index jumped 154.36 points, or 0.41%. Mexico's benchmark Bolsa Index surged 235.32 points, or 1.22%, while Argentina's Merval Index edged up 6.32 points, or 0.35%. Brazilian issues posted solid gains, as investors were relieved that no further allegations surfaced against Finance Minister Antonio Palocci over the weekend. Also aiding local shares was a sharp drop in crude oil prices. Brazil is a net importer of oil. On the economic front, the private Getúlio Vargas Foundation said that the General Price Index, or IGP-M, fell 0.10% in the 10 days through March 20, compared with a slip of 0.01% during the same period in February. The most recent result showed a sharper-than-expected drop in prices. Separately, the Fipe research foundation said that its consumer price index rose 0.26% in the four weeks ended March 15, versus a 0.16% jump in the four weeks ended March 7. In corporate headlines, Banco Bradesco SA said it will buy the local operations of U.S.-based American Express for US$ 490 million. Brazil's largest private bank said it will acquire operations run by American Express in Brazil, including credit card portfolios and consumer credit unions. A major investment bank initiated coverage on investment fund Bradespar at "outperform." The broker cited the firm's "transparent valuation with low reinvestment risk" as one factor for its rating. Mexican shares moved higher today, with the IPC Index reaching another fresh record high. In the U.S., investors are awaiting an evening speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in which further insight into interest rates may be given. Turning to the economy, the National Statistics Institute reported that unemployment fell to 3.6% in February from 3.8% a year ago. On a seasonally- adjusted basis, unemployment rose 0.14% in February from January. Elsewhere, an influential investment bank raised its rating on steel firm Industrias CH SA to "buy" from "neutral," as it expects improved performance at its U.S. unit PAV Republic. In Argentina, shares moved modestly higher, in line with broader regional gains. Local shares were bolstered by the banking sector. Meanwhile, falling crude oil prices weighed on select related stocks. Thomson Financial - www.thomsonfinancial.com
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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. 
The push of vigilante groups in Rio de Janeiro's favelas (shantytowns) in the last three years is the most important and alarming information of the just-released study by the Rio de Janeiro University's Violence Research Center (Nupev-Uerj). 
A dispute over drug trafficking territory in Rio de Janeiro has intensified lately, leaving in its wake unprecedented acts of violence, such as the downing of a police helicopter in the northern zone of the city on October 17. Three policemen died and another two were injured. This event has drawn the attention of the international media, who are raising the issue of public security for the 2016 Olympics to be held in Rio.