Portfolio Update

Merrill Lynch Latin Amer Inv. Trust
18 January 2007




MERRILL LYNCH LATIN AMERICAN INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

All information is at 31 December 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                            9.0%          19.8%            27.7%          148.1%          159.4%
Share price                                7.9%          21.1%            39.2%          222.2%          250.2%
MSCI EM Latin American                     7.5%          16.5%            25.9%          175.6%          201.8%
US Dollars:
Net asset value                            8.4%          24.9%            46.1%          174.5%          248.8%
MSCI EM Latin American                     7.0%          22.1%            43.5%          201.3%          305.8%


Sources:  BlackRock Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, Standard & Poor's Micropal.


At month end

Net asset value*:                           400.31p
Share price:                                387.50p
Total assets:                               £189.4m
Discount:                                      3.2%
Gearing:                                      0.01%
Net yield:                                     1.3%
Ordinary shares in issue:                   47,789,753

includes 12 months net revenue equal to 4.04p (after interim dividend paid of 1.31p (2.5 cents).


Geographical Regional Exposure                                                                         % of Total Assets

Brazil                                                                                                              61.6
Mexico                                                                                                              28.8
Chile                                                                                                                6.4
Argentina                                                                                                            3.4
Colombia                                                                                                             0.8
Panama                                                                                                               0.6
Net current liabilities                                                                                            (1.6)
                                                                                                                   -----
Total                                                                                                              100.0
                                                                                                                   -----



Ten Largest Equity Investments (in alphabetical order)

Company                                                               Country of Risk

AmBev                                                                 Brazil
America Movil                                                         Mexico
Banco Bradesco                                                        Brazil
CVRD                                                                  Brazil
Fomento Economico Mexicano                                            Mexico
Grupo Televisa                                                        Mexico
Petrobras                                                             Brazil
Tenaris                                                               Argentina
Unibanco                                                              Brazil
Walmart de Mexico (Walmex)                                            Mexico



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


Performance

For the month of December 2006, the Merrill Lynch Latin American Investment
Trust posted increases of 8.4% in its NAV and an increase of 7.4% for the
appreciation for its shares (all figures calculated in USD terms).  This
compared favourably with the 7.0% return posted by the Company's benchmark, the
MSCI EM Latin America Index.  For the full year ended 31 December 2006, the
Company posted an increase of  46.1% in its NAV and an increase of 59.0% in its
share price, again comparing favourably with the 43.5% increase for its
benchmark.

During the month, the Company benefited from strong stock selection, especially
in Brazil and in Mexico.  The largest contributors to our strong performance
during the month included being overweight in small capitalisation stocks;
including Brazilian insurer Porto Seguro, logistics company ALL and Localiza
Rent a Car, and Mexican homebuilder Geo and retailer Comerci.  The Company also
benefited from an underweight position in Mexican global cement producer Cemex.


Transactions/Gearing

During the middle of December, amid a year end rally, we brought our gearing
position back to zero.  We sold stocks across the Portfolio to fund the gearing
repayment, maintaining Brazil as our largest country overweight.  During the
month, we also introduced four new investments to the portfolio, all in the
small/mid cap area, increased the Company's exposure to Chile and Colombia and
reduced exposure to Mexico.


Positioning

Looking ahead to 2007, the Company continued to be positioned to benefit from
strong domestic economic activity in the region, especially in Brazil and Chile.
Brazil remains the largest (and now only) country overweight given its
combination of attractive valuation levels, improving liquidity, and falling
local interest rates.  The other countries remain at various degrees of
underweight, based mostly on valuation parameters.  In Mexico, we are also
concerned about the impact of the US economic slowdown on the Mexican economy,
the impact of lower oil prices, and the ability of President Calderon to work
together with Congress in passing parts of his reform agenda.  Overall we remain
positive on Latin American markets given attractive valuation parameters
relative to the rest of the world, resilient earnings growth and a stable
macroeconomic scenario.

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 January 2007





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