Portfolio Update

MERRILL LYNCH LATIN AMERICAN INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

All information is at 30 September 2007 and unaudited.

Performance at month end is calculated with net income reinvested

                                       One      Three       *Since           One         Three          Five     
                                                                                                                 
                                    Month     Months      31.03.06          Year         Years         Years     
                                                                                                                 
Sterling:                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                 
Net asset value                     12.3%        9.1%        48.9%         60.4%        177.7%        567.2%     
Share price                         16.4%       12.3%        53.5%         65.5%        259.9%        706.5%     
MSCI EM Latin American              11.4%        9.1%        48.7%         57.6%        226.7%        585.1%     
                                                                                                                 
US Dollars:                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                 
Net asset value                     13.4%       10.8%        74.9%         74.1%        212.7%        764.4%     
MSCI EM Latin American              12.5%       10.8%        74.6%         71.9%        267.8%        787.6%     
                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                 
Sources:  BlackRock MLIM, Standard & Poor's Micropal.                                                            
*Date which BlackRock MLIM took over the investment management of the Company.                                   
 
At month end                                                                           
                                                                                       
Net asset value - capital only:                                              527.31p   
Net asset value* - cum income:                                               530.00p   
Share price:                                                                 523.50p   
Total assets:                                                                £252.0m   
Discount (capital only):                                                        0.7%   
Gearing:                                                                           -   
Net yield:                                                                      0.9%   
Ordinary shares in issue:                                                 47,789,753   
                                                                                       
*Includes 9 months net revenue equal to 2.69p (after payment of 1.23p (2.5c)           
interim dividend).                                                                     
 
Geographical Regional Exposure                                            % Total Assets
                                                                                        
Brazil                                                                              68.5
Mexico                                                                              22.7
Chile                                                                                5.1
Argentina                                                                            3.0
Colombia                                                                             0.6
Panama                                                                               0.5
Net current liabilities                                                            (0.4)
                                                                                   -----
Total                                                                              100.0
                                                                                   -----
                                                                                        

                                                                                         
Ten Largest Equity Investments (in alphabetical order)                                  
                                                                                        
Company                                                   Country of Risk               
                                                                                        
All America Latina Logistica                              Brazil                        
AmBev Cia De Bebidas                                      Brazil                        
America Movil                                             Mexico                        
Banco Bradesco                                            Brazil                        
Cia Vale do Rio Doce                                      Brazil                        
Petroleo Brasileiro                                       Brazil                        
Tenaris                                                   Argentina                     
Unibanco Uniao Bco                                        Brazil                        
Usiminas                                                  Brazil                        
Wal-Mart de Mexico                                        Mexico                        
                                                                                        
Commenting on the markets, Will Landers, representing the Investment Manager
noted:

Performance

For the month of September 2007, the Merrill Lynch Latin American Investment
Trust posted a 13.4% NAV appreciation while the share price appreciated by
17.6% (all in USD terms), finishing the period with a 0.7% share price discount
to NAV.  This compares with the 12.5% appreciation posted by the Trust's
benchmark, the MSCI EM Latin America Free Index.

The outperformance during the month stemmed from a combination of positive
allocation impact from our overweight in Brazil and underweight in Chile and
Mexico as well as positive stock selection in Mexico.  At the stock level, the
underweight positions in Cemex and Telmex in Mexico and our overweight in
Brazilian bank Bradesco were the top contributors to performance, while the top
detractors were our underweight position in Petrobras and our overweight in
Mexican homebuilders Geo and Homex.

Transactions/Gearing

We did not make any significant changes to the Trust's holdings during the
month of September, and we maintained our gearing at zero.  The few changes we
effected included some rotation within our holdings in financial services in
Brazil, taking some profits in some Mexican holdings that we believe will be
affected by the slow-down in the US economy (such as Grupo Televisa) and
increasing our weighting in Tenaris due to higher confidence in expected strong
performance during 2008 and Grupo Mexico to reduce our underweight to the
copper sector given continued expectation of positive price movements.

Positioning

The Trust's portfolio continues to be positioned to benefit from continued
growth in the Brazilian domestic economy as a continuation of the interest rate
easing cycle and the positive impact this will continue to have on consumer
demand, loan growth, real estate growth and overall increased purchasing power
of Brazilian individuals.  Brazil is the largest country overweight,
representing in excess of 2/3 of the portfolio's assets.  We also expect Brazil
to benefit from a continuation of the current commodity cycle, with CVRD
representing our largest fund position - we see iron ore prices continuing to
go up in their yearly negotiations for several more years.  We have also
increased our weighting in copper (reducing our underweight in this metal) and
in oil services (thereby bringing our Argentine position to be slightly
overweight given that Tenaris is part of the Argentina benchmark).  We maintain
an underweight position in Mexico due to the combination of less attractive
valuation parameters, the contagion from the US economic slowdown and in Chile
due to still unattractive 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 October 2007