Brazil minister accuses groups of exploiting Amazon

Reuters: [2008-05-15 23:18:00]

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 15 (Reuters) - International concerns expressed after Brazil's environment minister quit this week show that some groups are fronts for exploiting the Amazon's resources, the country's justice minister said on Thursday.

"There are parts of the international community that defend the Amazon as if it was not Brazilian but a territory of humanity," Tarso Genro told reporters in Rio de Janeiro.

"This is a front for economic interests in the Amazon as a global reserve for big multinationals and for other countries to have control over Brazil's territory," he said.

Groups such as Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace voiced concern over the direction of Brazil's environment policy this week after staunch Amazon defender and conservationist Marina Silva quit citing difficulty pushing through her agenda.

Brazil has appeared increasingly concerned over foreign influence in the vast Amazon rain forest, which has porous borders with several South American neighbors and is home to a large number of environmental and other groups.

Cabinet ministers last month said they were considering the scenario of a large-scale foreign invasion of the Amazon as part of defense plans. Brazil's military is pushing a bill that would require foreign groups in the Amazon to have permits.

Genro also announced the setting up of a 500-strong rapid-reaction police force that could intervene in conflicts such as recent violent clashes between Indians and farmers in northern Roraima state.

"The objective of this battalion is to respond immediately to emergency situations and environmental questions," he said. (Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier; writing by Stuart Grudgings; editing by David Wiessler)

((stuart.grudgings@thomsonreuters.com; +55 21 2223-7144; Reuters Messaging: stuart.grudgings.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: BRAZIL ENVIRONMENT/

Brazil stocks rally to record with Vale; real firms

Reuters: [2008-05-15 23:06:00]

(Updates to close)

SAO PAULO, May 15 (Reuters) - Brazilian stocks rallied to a record close on Thursday led by mining company Vale, which benefited from higher metals prices, while the national currency firmed on dollar inflows.

The Bovespa index <.BVSP> of the Sao Paulo stock exchange rose 2.09 percent to 71,492.36 points.

The Brazilian real <BRBY>, firmed nearly 0.5 percent to 1.655 per U.S. dollar. The currency is trading close to its strongest levels since 1999, and some traders see certain resistance to its further advance.

"Banks are working in the sense of not allowing an excessive (dollar) decline to avoid having losses on (dollar) sales after they stocked up on the currency," said Sidnei Nehme, executive director with NGO brokerage.

"The moment is coming to have a slightly smaller position. But the winning position is still short on dollars," he added.

The government is setting up a sovereign wealth fund, which should mop up part of the flood of greenbacks entering the country and help banks get rid of their big dollar positions without boosting the real.

But Nehme said government dollar purchases for the fund were likely to have a limited impact on the real's strength.

The real benefited from dollar inflows on Thursday and was helped by a Wall Street rise, traders said.

Interest-rate futures <0#DIJ:> on the BM&F commodities and futures exchange in Sao Paulo were mixed, with short-term contracts dipping slightly and longer-term contracts up.

At the stock exchange, Vale <VALE5.SA> -- the second most heavily weighted stock in the Bovespa index after state-run oil company Petrobras -- jumped 2.88 percent to 56.84 reais, benefiting from a surge in copper prices and gains in other industrial metals.

Steel company CSN <CSNA3.SA> rose 2.78 percent to 81.20 reais. The IBS industry group raised its forecast for steel sales growth in Brazil this year to 13 percent.

Petrobras <PETR4.SA> rose 1.75 percent to 47.11 reais, even as crude prices slipped.

Brazil's biggest beef producer, JBS SA <JBSS3.SA>, ended unchanged at 7.55 reais after erasing big declines in early trade following the release of a first-quarter net loss.

BM&F SA <BMEF3.SA>, the holding company for Brazil's commodities and futures exchange, fell 2.02 percent to 17.98 reais. The company late on Wednesday reported first-quarter net income of 79.94 million reais, 15.8 percent higher than in the fourth quarter of 2007. BM&F, which went public in November, didn't publish data for the first quarter of last year. (Reporting by Silvio Cascione and Andrei Khalip; Editing by Leslie Adler) ((andrei.khalip@thomsonreuters.com ; +55 21 2223 7144; Reuters Messaging: andrei.khalip.reuters.com@reuters.net )) Keywords: MARKETS BRAZIL/

U.S. reassures Brazil on territorial waters, fleet

Reuters: [2008-05-15 23:01:00]

By Raymond Colitt

BRASILIA, May 15 (Reuters) - The United States will respect Brazil's maritime claims, including offshore oil reserves, and will use a new naval fleet in Latin America mostly for peaceful purposes, the U.S. commander for the region said on Thursday.

The head of Brazil's oil market regulator had said on Wednesday he was worried the United States might contest the country's rights over huge oil reserves lying in a so-called exclusive economic zone.

"The United States will respect the territorial seas and exclusive economic zones of nations of the world," Adm. James Stavridis, head of the U.S. Southern Command, told reporters in Brasilia when asked about Brazil's concern.

The 1994 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which the United States has signed but not ratified, says coastal states have exclusive economic zones extending 200 nautical miles (370 km), where they enjoy exclusive rights over all natural resources.

The U.S. Fourth Fleet, which the Navy is re-establishing 58 years after decommissioning it, will help combat drug trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean, Stavridis said at the end of a defense conference.

But this did not indicate an upsurge in counter-narcotics operations, Stavridis said.

"It is not an offensive force in any way," he said.

Acknowledging the fleet had been "a subject of concern" in the region, the admiral said it would mainly support peacekeeping missions, aid in natural disasters, provide humanitarian relief and take part in naval exercises.

"The largest ship that will work for the Fourth Fleet is a hospital ship," Stavridis said.

Brazil is not concerned about the new fleet, Brazilian Adm. Marcos Martins Torres said. (Editing by Mohammad Zargham) ((ray.colitt@reuters.com; +5561 3426-7021)) Keywords: BRAZIL USA/MILITARY

Emerging debt-Spreads widen on UST rally, Interpol decision

Reuters: [2008-05-15 22:28:00]

* Yield spreads widen due to U.S. Treasury rally

* Sovereign dollar bond prices hold ground

* Venezuelan credit hurt by Interpol authentication

By Daniel Bases

NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) - Emerging market assets gained ground on Thursday, with dollar bonds marginally higher and stock prices on growing hopes the U.S. financial market crisis has peaked.

A rally in U.S. Treasuries, based on soft May manufacturing data and a rise in the number of unemployed people remaining on government assistance after an initial week of jobless benefits, however, resulted in wider yield spreads for sovereign dollar debt.

"There is a certain sense that this phase of the financial crisis is winding down. Inflation remains the main problem at the moment," said Igor Arsenin, emerging markets debt strategist at Credit Suisse in New York.

(For more on the U.S. economy, click on [ID:nN15515443])

Key members of the U.S. Senate reached a deal on a sweeping housing rescue plan, sources told Reuters on Thursday. Progress on supplying aid to the ailing U.S. housing sector plus further accounting for bad mortgage-related investments by investment banks is raising hopes that financial markets might have a chance to start a recovery.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International's emerging markets stock index <.MSCIEF> was up 1.18 percent while the Latin American index <.MILA00000PUS> traded at record highs, up 1.31 percent on the day.

In the credit markets, the benchmark JP Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index Plus <11EMJ><.JPMEMBIPLUS> yield spread widened by 6 basis points over stronger U.S. Treasuries to 261 basis points.

Spreads for Argentina's portion of the EMBI+ narrowed by 1 basis point to 558 basis points while total returns dropped 0.25 percent.

Argentina's bonds managed to hold onto a portion of their early gains on what appeared to be signs from President Cristina Fernandez that the government might be willing to resume talks with farmers currently on strike over a new sliding-scale export tax.

One leading farm figure, however, said on Thursday the strike is likely to continue.

Venezuela's bonds underperformed the market as oil prices fell and Interpol, the international police agency, said documents found on Colombian rebel computers were authentic but would not pass judgment on the actual contents.

Colombian charges that Venezuela and Ecuador supported the guerrillas but these two leftish governments dismiss the accusations as a U.S.-backed campaign to discredit them.

Venezuela's portion of the EMBI+ widened by 11 basis points to 668 basis points as total returns on the day fell 0.28 percent.

"The market traded better this morning, but into the afternoon, this Interpol report is putting pressure on Venezuela. I don't see why it should be a big deal but it's having a negative impact," said one senior trader at a German bank in New York.

"Trading volume is not great. Aside from Venezuela and Argentina, everything is pretty much steady as she goes," the trader added.

Looking ahead to Friday, Mexico's central bank is likely to leave interest rates unchanged at its policy-setting meeting. The benchmark interest rate is 7.50 percent <MXCBIR=ECI>.

"It looks like they will probably leave interest rates unchanged but will present a much more hawkish tone in their language in the communique ... Hawkish language would be positive for the peso and while it may not happen right away, a level of 10.40 to the dollar may be tested again," Arsenin said.

Separately, Turkey's benchmark sovereign bond slipped 0.25 of a point in price to bid 152.438, yielding 7.096 percent <TRGLB30=RR> on Thursday after the central bank raised interest rates in a move to undercut inflation pressures. The bank signaled further tightening could come. (Editing by Jan Paschal) ((daniel.bases@reuters.com; +1 646 223 6131; Reuters Messaging: daniel.bases.reuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: MARKETS EMERGINGDEBT/

UPDATE 1-Soccer-Brazil recall Adriano for World Cup qualifiers

Reuters: [2008-05-15 21:49:00]

(Adds quotes)

By Brian Homewood

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 15 (Reuters) - Adriano was recalled by Brazil for next month's World Cup qualifiers on Thursday, only the second time he has been picked by his country since the 2006 World Cup.

The 26-year-old was included in a 25-man squad for the matches away to Paraguay in Asuncion on June 15 and at home to arch-rivals Argentina in Belo Horizonte three days later.

Paraguay lead the 10-team South American qualifying group with 10 points from four games, one ahead of Argentina and two ahead of Brazil.

The same squad will face Canada in a friendly in Seattle on May 31 and Venezuela in Boston on June 6, minus Adriano who has club commitments with Sao Paulo.

As expected, there was no place for troubled forward Ronaldinho, who has been out of action with Barcelona because of fitness and weight problems.

Adriano, plagued by physical and reported alcohol problems last year with Inter Milan, has refound his form since joining Sao Paulo on loan in December and has scored 16 goals in all competitions.

"Everyone knows his potential and he has shown great willpower and capability to come back," Dunga told reporters. "His footballing talent was never in doubt. He deserves to return to the national team."

"Great players like important games. That's where we see their potential," Dunga added.

"He has been under a lot of pressure for a long time and a striker gets back his form by scoring goals. We have been watching him and hoping for his recovery."

IMPORTANT TITLES

There were no major surprises as Ronaldinho was left out while AC Milan pair Kaka and Alexandre Pato were included.

Dunga asked for understanding for Ronaldinho, saying his recent problems should not cloud his previous years with Barcelona.

"There's a lot of sensationalism with Ronaldinho," said Dunga. "He gave Barcelona back their soul, winning important titles. Now we have to leave him in peace so he can get back his form."

"We know we can count on him in the future."

Dunga reiterated that he wanted Kaka to take part in the Olympic Games as an over-age player but said it would depend on negotiations with Milan, who are not obliged to release him for the tournament.

He also asked for patience with 18-year-old Pato, who scored a stunning goal against Sweden on his international debut after coming on as a substitute.

"I want to protect Pato as much as possible and I can't put the expectations of millions of people on his shoulders," said Dunga.

"Things have to happen naturally. We have to deposit confidence in him, give him incentives. There's no point in doing things in a hurry, we have to let him play his football."

Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Doni (AS Roma), Diego Alves (Almeria)

Defenders: Daniel Alves (Sevilla), Maicon (Inter Milan), Gilberto (Hertha Berlin), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Kleber

(Santos), Lucio (Bayern Munich), Alex Costa (Chelsea), Juan (AS Roma), Luisao (Benfica)

Midfielders: Elano (Manchester City), Gilberto Silva (Arsenal), Mineiro (Hertha Berlin), Josue (VfL Wolfsburg), Anderson

(Manchester United), Diego (Werder Bremen), Kaka (AC Milan)

Forwards: Adriano (Sao Paulo), Alexandre Pato (AC Milan), Julio Baptista (Real Madrid), Luis Fabiano (Sevilla), Rafael

Sobis (Real Betis), Robinho (Real Madrid)

(Reporting by Brian Homewood; Editing by Alan Baldwin)

((alan.baldwin@reuters.com; ; Reuters Messaging: reuters.com@reuters.net For the latest Reuters

Premier League and international football news see: http://football.uk.reuters/))

For more soccer stories please click on [SOCC-LEN]

Keywords: SOCCER LATAM/BRAZIL SQUAD