This series of reports on the remarkable growth of the telecom and ecommerce sectors in Brazil since the phone system was privatized makes for upbeat reading.
http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=articles&id=3901B9B2-66A2-47EF-8A4F-0E598052BF1B
http://www.crito.uci.edu/publications/pdf/gec/brazil.pdf
http://www.internetworldstats.com/sa/br.htm
http://www.midwestbusiness.com/news/viewnews.asp?newsletterID=11893