Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK LATIN AMERICAN INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

All information is at 31 January 2010 and unaudited.

Performance at month end is calculated with income reinvested

                            One   Three        One     Three    *Since     Five     
                          Month  Months       Year     Years  31.03.06    Years    
Sterling:                                                                      
Net asset value          -10.7%    3.9%      88.7%     50.3%     70.7%   176.6%   
Share price              -12.1%    2.1%      83.6%     51.8%     71.5%   241.9%   
MSCI EM Latin American    -8.2%    3.8%      67.8%     64.0%     83.4%   253.2% 
                                                                               
US Dollars:                                                                    
Net asset value          -11.4%    1.0%     109.7%     23.0%     57.7%   135.0%   
MSCI EM Latin American    -8.9%    0.9%      86.5%     34.3%     69.4%   200.1% 

Sources: BlackRock, Standard & Poor's Micropal                                 
*Date which BlackRock took over the investment management of the Company.      

At month end                                                                   
Net asset value - capital only:                                       577.10p  
Net asset value** - cum income:                                       587.54p  
Net asset value - capital only and with bond at fair value:           548.90p  
Net asset value - cum income and with bond at fair value:             559.34p  
Net asset value - cum income and with bond converted:                 580.58p  
Share price:                                                          565.00p  
Total assets^:                                                       £306.87m  
Discount (share price to capital only NAV):                              2.1%  
Gearing~:                                                                9.1%  
Net yield:                                                               1.5%  
Ordinary shares in issue^^:                                        43,835,522  
                                                                               
**Includes 13 months net revenue equal to 10.44p (after deducting interim      
dividend).                                                                     
^Total assets include current year revenue.                                    
^^Excluding 3,554,231 shares held in treasury.                                 
~Gearing is a calculated using debt at par, less cash and cash equivalents as a
percentage of gross assets.                                                    

Geographical Regional Exposure                                   % Total Assets
                                                                               
Brazil                                                                     71.5
Mexico                                                                     14.6
Chile                                                                       2.4
Peru                                                                        2.3
Argentina                                                                   2.0
Panama                                                                      0.9
Net current assets                                                          6.3
                                                                          -----
Total                                                                     100.0
                                                                          -----

Ten Largest Equity Investments (in alphabetical order)                          

Company                                Country of Risk                         
                                                                               
Ambev                                  Brazil                                  
America Movil                          Mexico                                  
Banco Bradesco                         Brazil                                  
BM&F Bovespa                           Brazil                                  
Cyrela Brazil Realty                   Brazil                                  
Formento Economico                     Mexico                                  
Grupo Televisa                         Mexico                                  
Itau Unibanco                          Brazil                                  
Petrobras                              Brazil                                  
Vale                                   Brazil                                  

Commenting on the markets, Will Landers, representing the investment

Manager noted;

Performance

For the month of January 2010, the Company posted a 10.7% decline in its NAV
while its shares declined 12.1% (all in sterling terms). This compares with the
8.2% decline posted by the Company's benchmark, the MSCI EM Latin America Free
Index.

January's underperformance was largely related to negative stock selection in
Brazil, where the overweight holding in Banco Itau was the largest detractor
from performance, as well as the negative allocation effect from being
underweight in the outperforming markets of Chile and Colombia. Gearing also
detracted given the fall in markets. Positive attribution stemmed from the off
benchmark position in oil services provider Tenaris as well as the underweight
holding in cement producer Cemex and the zero-weight holding in steel producer
Gerdau.

Transactions/Gearing

During the month, we took advantage of the underperformance in Brazil to
increase our overweight in the country, adding to our positions in miner Vale,
oil producer Petrobras, agribusiness conglomerate Bunge and electric utility
Light, taking profits in Banco Itau to close the underweight in Banco Bradesco,
and taking profits in the railroads and healthcare sectors. In Mexico, we sold
our position in Cemex, deploying the funds in America Movil and Femsa.

Positioning

The downturn in Latin American markets during the month was caused by external
factors which in our view do not change the strong fundamentals for Latin
America.

We have therefore not significantly changed the make up of the portfolio as we
continue to expect a strong year for top down and bottom up growth across the
region. Visits to Mexico and Brazil by members of our investment team in
January reaffirmed our preference for Brazil over Mexico - Brazil's economy
should be among the strongest in the world, with earnings growth exceeding 30%.
Mexico continues to be dependent on US growth - and our view is that the US
recovery will be below trend. Overall, we still see periods of weakness as
opportunities to add to Latin America given the region's strong fundamentals
and attractive valuation levels.

Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.uk/its on the
internet, "BLRKINDEX" on Reuters, "BLRK" on Bloomberg or "8800" on Topic 3 (ICV
terminal).

18 February 2010