EXHIBIT 12.1


                   PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER CERTIFICATION

     I, Carlos Alves de Brito, Chief Executive Officer of Companhia de Bebidas
das Americas - AmBev, certify that:

     1. I have reviewed this Amendment No.1 to the annual report on Form 20-F
of Companhia de Bebidas das Americas--AmBev (the "Registrant");

     2. Based on my knowledge, this annual report does not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to
make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such
statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
this annual report;

     3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this annual report, fairly present in all material
respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the
Registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this annual report;

     4. The Registrant's other certifying officers and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the Registrant and have:

          a.   Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
               such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under
               our supervision, to ensure that material information relating
               to the Registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is
               made known to us by others within those entities, particularly
               during the period in which this annual report is being
               prepared;

          b.   Evaluated the effectiveness of the Registrant's disclosure
               controls and procedures and presented in this report our
               conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
               and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
               report based on such evaluation; and

          c.   Disclosed in this report any change in the company's internal
               control over financial reporting that occurred during the
               period covered by the annual report that has materially
               affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the
               company's internal control over financial reporting; and

     5. The Registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based
on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to
the Registrant's auditors and the audit committee of Registrant's board of
directors (or persons performing the equivalent function):

          a.   All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
               design or operation of internal control over financial
               reporting which are reasonably

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               likely to adversely affect the Registrant's ability to record,
               process, summarize and report financial data; and

          b.   Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
               other employees who have a significant role in the Registrant's
               internal control over financial reporting.



Date:  July 8, 2004
                                                    /s/ Carlos Alves de Brito
                                                    ---------------------------
                                                    Carlos Alves de Brito
                                                    Chief Executive Officer