This was the headline being run by some media outlets in recent days, but before anyone panics, Brazil hasn't been taken over by Venezuela's Chavez, or Bolivia'a Morales.

The tighter rules for foreign land ownership refer only to the Amazon rainforest and national border areas, which have always had restrictions for foreign ownership.

Nothing has changed in terms of foreigners owning or buying farmland in Brazil. The normal route is to set up a local Brazilian company and you will be governed by the same rules as locals.

Brazil's lower house of Congress approved the new bill last week limiting foreign ownership in the Amazon to around 3,700 acres and prohibiting foreigners from buying property within 94 miles of the country's borders.

The bill still needs approval from the upper house as well as President Lula.

The issue of foreign ownership in the Amazon arose last year after it was discovered that a large number (something like 10,000) non-governmental Organizations, or NGO's, have set up in the region.

Many of these were fronts for other activities, some illegal, such as biopiracy - stealing medicinal plants for pharmaceutical purposes - among others. But there were also concerns that foreigners were trying to buy up the Amazon to eventually take control of the rainforest and prevent Brazil's agricultural expansion.

At the time the media also exposed a number of swindlers on the Internet selling large chunks of the Amazon to unsuspecting foreigners. Often the same area would be resold several times while most of the titles were false.

In a way the new laws could protect unsuspecting foreigners from being cheated, while those who want to buy agricultural land to farm will still be able to do so without any trouble.