Vai meu irmão, pega esse avião...

El mundo se compró el cuentito de los BRICs de punta a punta y ahora resulta que Rusia, India, China y Brasil serán la salvación para todos nosotros. ¡Enhorabuena! Estamos tan pero tan cerca que nuestros colegas del norte no tendrán más remedio que consumir nuestros magros productos exportables, esquiar en Brasiloche y bailar tango como endemoniados.

Boom times for Brazilian consumers

Consumers in the United States are tightening their belts; Brazilians are spending like there's no word in Portuguese for recession.

Middle-class Americans are surrounded by a rising tide of angst; Brazil's middle class is growing.

Even some creditworthy Americans cannot find a mortgage; Brazilians are taking out loans like never before.

"It used to be that when the U.S. sneezes, Brazil catches pneumonia, but that is no longer the case," said Marcelo Carvalho, executive director of research at Morgan Stanley in Brazil.

Thanks to a newfound economic stability and vitality, here and in much of the region, Latin America is looking less chained to the fortunes of the United States. "There is hard decoupling taking place," Carvalho said. "The Brazilian economy is growing fast as the U.S. is, in our view, already in recession."