Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK LATIN AMERICAN INVESTMENT TRUST PLC

All information is at 31 December 2008 and unaudited.

Performance at month end is calculated with net income reinvested

                           One     Three       One     *Since    Three       Five     
                         Month    Months      Year   31.03.06    Years      Years    
                                                                               
Sterling:                                                                      
                                                                               
Net asset value          10.7%    -23.2%    -41.6%      -8.1%     5.5%     105.0%   
                                                                               
Share price               7.5%    -21.9%    -45.3%     -12.8%     8.1%     150.3%   
                                                                               
MSCI EM Latin American   10.1%    -18.1%    -32.5%       9.8%    25.8%     175.4% 
                                                                   
                                                                               
US Dollars:                                                                    
                                                                               
Net asset value           3.7%    -38.1%    -57.8%     -23.8%   -11.3%      66.6%    
                                                                               
MSCI EM Latin American    3.2%    -34.0%    -51.3%      -9.0%     5.3%     121.2% 
                                                                      
                                                                               
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:                                  315.31p  
                                                                          
Net asset value** - cum income:                                  324.33p  
                                                                          
Share price:                                                     295.00p  
                                                                          
Total assets^:                                                  £162.44m  
                                                                          
Discount (share price to capital only NAV):                         6.4%  
                                                                          
Gearing:                                                            4.4%  
                                                                          
Net yield:                                                         1.65%  
                                                                          
Ordinary shares in issue^^:                                   47,389,753  
                                                                          
**Includes 12 months net revenue equal to 9.02p after provision for the   
interim dividend of 2.5 cents (1.4212p) per share.                        
^Total assets include current year revenue.                               
^^Excluding 400,000 shares held in treasury.                              

Geographical Regional Exposure                                   % Total Assets
                                                                               
Brazil                                                                     73.3
                                                                               
Mexico                                                                     19.6
                                                                               
Chile                                                                       4.0
                                                                               
Peru                                                                        3.0
                                                                               
Argentina                                                                   1.5
                                                                               
Panama                                                                      0.7
                                                                               
Net current liabilities                                                    (2.1)
                                                                               
                                                                          -----
                                                                               
Total                                                                     100.0
                                                                          -----

Ten Largest Equity Investments                                                 

Company                          % of Assets     Country of Risk               
                                                                               
Petrobras                               12.3     Brazil                        
                                                                               
CVRD                                    11.0     Brazil                        
                                                                               
America Movil                            8.7     Mexico                        
                                                                               
Banco Bradesco                           6.6     Brazil                        
                                                                               
Unibanco                                 6.1     Brazil                        
                                                                               
Usiminas                                 4.4     Brazil                        
                                                                               
AmBev                                    3.7     Brazil                        
                                                                               
Formento Economico                       3.5     Mexico                        
                                                                               
Banco Itau                               2.9     Brazil                        
                                                                               
Walmart                                  2.1     Mexico                        

Commenting on the markets, Will Landers, representing the investment

Manager noted;

Performance

For the month of December 2008, the Company posted a 10.7% appreciation in its
NAV while the share price rose 7.5% (all in Sterling terms). This compares with
the 10.1% increase posted by the Company's benchmark, the MSCI EM Latin America
Index.

December marked the first month since May 2008 where Latin American markets
posted positive returns. The small outperformance against the benchmark during
the month was mostly attributable to positive stock selection in Brazil,
especially from our overweight positions in financials.

Transactions/Gearing

During the month, we increased our overweight position in Brazil slightly,
adding to materials, retail and airlines, and funding it by eliminating four
small cap stocks (three in Brazil and one in Mexico), and taking some profits
from recent outperformance in Mexican staples and Brazilian telecommunications.
Gearing was relatively unchanged during the month in absolute terms, remaining
at close to 5% of net assets before ending the month at 4.4%.

Positioning

We enter 2009 with the Company's portfolio currently positioned to continue to
benefit from the more constructive market environment we have experienced since
late November. We finished 2008 with the largest overweight position in Brazil
that the portfolio has had in several quarters and we expect the Brazilian
economy to stand out by posting GDP growth of 2% or more in 2009, while it is
expected that a majority of the economies in the developed world are likely to
post negative growth. This will be helped by an easing cycle that should start
with the first Central Bank meeting later in January, helping to bring rates
down from the current 13.75% by at least 200 basis points during the year.
Valuations in Brazil also look attractive relative to other markets in the
world. We have our largest overweight positions in financials and other
consumer-related sectors, maintaining a smaller overweight position in metals
and mining and an underweight in oil. Mexico remains our largest underweight
position - we don't believe valuations have come down sufficiently to justify
adding to the portfolio aggressively, especially given the economy's close ties
with the US and the fact that the market was a small outperformer in 2008. We
have maintained an underweight position in Chile as the economy continues to
decelerate and the valuation premium is still in place.

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).

23 January 2009