Portfolio Update

MERRILL LYNCH LATIN AMERICAN INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

All information is at 31 January 2008 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          -7.3%     -9.8%      45.9%    28.5%    136.5%    491.8%   
Share price             -10.8%    -12.6%      42.2%    25.8%    183.4%    629.7%   
MSCI EM Latin American   -6.1%     -6.3%      52.9%    52.9%    194.5%    534.2%  
                                                                                                                     
US Dollars:                                                                    
Net asset value          -7.4%    -13.7%      67.3%    30.5%    149.2%    615.9%   
MSCI EM Latin American   -6.2%    -10.4%      75.3%    38.9%    210.5%    667.1% 
                                                                                                                  
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:                 513.77p 
Net asset value* - cum income:                  519.54p 
Share price:                                    485.00p 
Total assets:                                   £245.5m 
Discount (capital only):                           5.6% 
Gearing:                                              - 
Net yield:                                         0.9% 
Ordinary shares in issue:                    47,789,753 
                                                        
*Includes 13 months net revenue equal to 5.77p (after   
payment of 1.23p (2.5c) interim dividend).              


Geographical Regional Exposure               % Total Assets
                                                                               
Brazil                                                 69.8
Mexico                                                 21.2
Chile                                                   4.5
Argentina                                               3.5
Colombia                                                0.7
Panama                                                  0.5
Net current liabilities                                (0.2)
                                                      -----
Total                                                 100.0
                                                      -----

Ten Largest Equity Investments (in alphabetical order)                         
                                                                               
Company                           Country of Risk                  
                                                                               
AmBev                                 Brazil                           
America Movil                         Mexico                           
Banco Bradesco                        Brazil
Banco Itau                            Brazil           
CVRD                                  Brazil                           
Petroleo Brasileiro                   Brazil                           
Tenaris                               Argentina                        
Unibanco Uniao                        Brazil                           
Usiminas                              Brazil                           
Walmart                               Mexico                           


Commenting on the markets, Will Landers, representing the investment Manager noted;

Performance

For the month of January 2008, the Company posted a 7.4% decline in its NAV and
a 11.0% decline for its shares (all in US dollar terms with income reinvested).
This compared with the 6.2% decline posted by the Company's benchmark, the MSCI
EM Latin America Free Index.

The underperformance during the highly volatile month of January was mostly the
result of negative attribution from stock selection in Brazil, where our
weighting in small capitalisation stocks hurt overall performance. In addition,
overweight positions in Banco Bradesco and CVRD in Brazil and Tenaris in
Argentina resulted in negative attribution, while the overweight positions in
America Movil, Homex and AmBev provided positive attribution.

Transactions/Gearing

During the month, we reduced our weighting in Argentina by reducing our
position in Tenaris. While we continue to expect positive results from this
leading oil services company in 2008 and 2009, cost pressures will limit the
company's expected margin expansion. In Brazil, we reduced our exposure in CVRD
given its potential bid for Xstrata and in utility CESP ahead of its
privatisation given strong performance. We rotated these funds into the
Brazilian banking (on weakness given increased taxes), homebuilding and steel
sectors, where we continue to expect strong results in 2008. Gearing remained
at 0% during the month.

Positioning

Our outlook for Latin America remains constructive. The weakness during the
month of January was caused by the market's attempt to price in the potential
of a US recession, with some recovery seen as the Fed lowered US rates. We have
maintained our underweight in Mexico given the economy's strong connection to
the US economy which has resulted in falling consumer confidence. We have also
maintained our overweight in Brazil given attractive valuation levels, strong
expected earnings growth, and lower impact from the US. We continue to hold an
underweight position in Chile as the market prices in the reduced exposure from
local pension funds and the lower economic growth stemming from higher interest
rates (as the Chilean Central Bank looks to bring inflation back to target.

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).

25 February 2008