Portfolio Update

Merrill Lynch Latin Amer Inv. Trust
22 August 2006

MERRILL LYNCH LATIN AMERICAN INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

All information is at 31 July 2006 and unaudited.

Performance at month end is calculated with net income reinvested

                                            One          Three              One           Three            Five
                                          Month         Months             Year           Years           Years
Sterling:
Net asset value                            2.7%        -11.0%             18.8%          149.5%          103.0%
Share price                                1.8%        -12.7%             45.5%          214.6%          178.4%
MSCI EM Latin American                     2.0%        -10.0%             37.7%          178.1%          147.8%
US Dollars:
Net asset value                            3.7%          -8.5%            25.9%          189.8%          165.9%
MSCI EM Latin American                     3.0%          -7.6%            46.0%          223.0%          224.7%

Sources:  Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, Standard & Poor's Micropal.
At month end
Net asset value*:                           326.86p
Share price:                                310.00p
Total assets:                               £190.5m
Discount:                                      5.2%
Gearing:                                       6.0%
Net yield:                                     1.7%
Ordinary shares in issue:                   55,608,059
*includes 7 months net revenue equal to 3.64p




Geographical Regional Exposure                                                                         % of Total Assets
Brazil                                                                                                              63.5
Mexico                                                                                                              28.7
Chile                                                                                                                4.6
Argentina                                                                                                            2.9
Colombia                                                                                                             0.7
Panama                                                                                                               0.6
Net current liabilities                                                                                            (1.0)
                                                                                                                   -----
Total                                                                                                              100.0
                                                                                                                   -----




Ten Largest Equity Investments
Company                                                               Country of Risk
AmBev                                                                 Brazil
America Moviles                                                       Mexico
Banco Bradesco                                                        Brazil
Banco ITAU                                                            Brazil
Corporacion GEO S.A. de C.V.                                          Mexico
CVRD                                                                  Brazil
Petroleo Brasileiro                                                   Brazil
Tenaris                                                               Argentina
Usiminas                                                              Brazil
Walmart de Mexico (Walmex)                                            Mexico




Commenting on the markets, Will Landers, representing the Investment Manager
noted:



For the month of July 2006, the Merrill Lynch Latin American Investment Trust
posted a 3.7% increase in its NAV and 2.8% return for its shares (all in USD on
a total return basis).  This compares favourably with the 3.0% return posted by
its benchmark, the MSCI EM Latin America Free Index.  For the year-to-date, the
fund posted a 13.4% growth in NAV and 20.8% return for its shares, while the
benchmark posted a 15.5% (all in USD on a total return basis).



Contributors to performance during the month included overweight holdings in
Mexican homebuilder GEO and Brazilian bank Banco Bradesco as well as having
underweight holdings in iron ore giant CVRD and global cement producer Cemex.
Overweight positions in Brazilian steel-maker Usiminas, homebuilder Cyrela and
textile/retailer Guararapes also detracted from the performance, as did being
zero weighted in the Mexican telecoms giant Telmex.



During the month of July, there were no significant changes to the Company's
country weightings and leverage remained at the 5% level.  The only major
changes to the portfolio took place within Brazil.  The Company reduced its
exposure to CVRD given the lack of short-term catalysts for the next two
quarters following the successful iron ore price negotiation, and also reduced
its exposure to utility AES Tiete taking some profits.  In their place, holdings
were added in Cosan (Brazil's largest sugar and ethanol producer) taking
advantage of some price weakness and electricity generator Cesp (in their
secondary offering) due to attractive long-term prospects and the potential for
privatization in the next two years.  The Company also added to its holding in
Usiminas given the expectation of strong steel pricing in the Brazilian market
during the second half of the year.



From a positioning standpoint, Brazil remains the largest overweight at the
country level.  The macro story continues to play out as we had been expecting -
the Brazilian Central Bank cut the Selic rate on 19 July by 50 bps to 14.75%,
inflation figures continue to come in at or below expectations and the market
consensus is still well below the 4.50% goal, meaning more cuts can be expected
and we believe it should finish the year at or below 14%.  The presidential
elections in October continue to represent little down-side risk to equity
markets, second quarter earnings so far have been solid, and Brazilian
valuations remain among the most attractive in the world.  The Mexican market
reacted positively to the apparent election of Felipe Calderon, but we remain
sceptical regarding his ability to get Congress to move on some much needed
reforms, without which we would not expect any further re-rating of the Mexican
equity market.  The Company remains underweight in the expensive Chilean market,
and the other markets remain stock-specific stories.







Latest information is available by typing www.mlim.co.uk/its on the internet,
'MLIMINDEX' on Reuters, 'MLIM' on Bloomberg or '8800' on Topic 3 (ICV terminal).



22 August 2006


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