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Ratings upgrade puts Brazil at top table
South America’s biggest economy leaves behind its boom-and-bust days as it gets investment grade status from S&P for the first time, making it a safe choice for investors
Hopes fade for Mexico energy reforms
Politicians to discuss how to spend future oil income and what relationship Mexico should have with foreign oil companies
US slowdown could hit migrant remittances
Mexican migrant workers sent less money home in the first quarter of this year than they did a year ago, according to figures released by the country’s Central Bank
Comment: Food or fuel? An agonising policy choice
The US and Europe could open their markets to more ethanol from Brazil, where the impact on agriculture would be small, writes Ed Crooks
US economy threatens Dominican Republic
A year after the introduction of the region’s free trade agreement with the US, there is so far little sign that the Dominican Republic has profited from it - and the next presidential election is only weeks away
Daunting tasks face new Paraguay leader
Fernando Lugo, the former bishop who was elected president of Paraguay in a landslide victory over the world’s longest ruling party on Sunday, now faces the monumental task of resurrecting his country
Brazil surprises markets with rate hike
Brazil’s central bank surprised markets with a 0.5 percentage point increase in interest rates - double the amount most economists expected - bringing to an end more than two years of rate cuts
Brazil’s rating hopes hit debt hurdle
Brazil is Latin America’s largest economy and improvements in its macro-economic indicators over the past decade led many to assume that an investment grade rating was only a matter of time
Colombia trade spat raises fears for Doha
Trade policy experts have been shaken by a partisan dispute between Congress and the White House in the past week over a free trade agreement with Colombia
Latin American growth set to fall
Economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean is likely to slow this year and next, while the region’s banking and financial systems are at a growing risk, in spite of the ‘muted’ impact of the global credit crisis so far, according to an IMF report

Americas - Economy & trade









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