Dima Rousseff: Big task ahead for Brazil new leader
SLIDESHOW
Supporters of Brazil's President-elect Dilma Rousseff wave flags of the Workers Party, in front of a campaign banner that shows her with current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during the victory rally in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday Oct. 31, 2010. Governing party candidate Dilma Rousseff was elected Brazil's president, becoming the nation's first female leader, and will take office Jan. 1. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)(Jorge Saenz - AP)
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By BRADLEY BROOKS
The Associated PressMonday, November 1, 2010; 3:34 AM
SAO PAULO -- From three years in a dictatorship's jail cell to just two months away from the presidential palace, the journey has been long for Brazil's newly elected leader Dilma Rousseff, who will be the first woman to direct Latin America's biggest nation.
She is a career civil servant who has never held elected office, but Rousseff easily won Sunday's presidential runoff election. That was thanks to the wholehearted backing of outgoing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who for decades has been a presence on Brazil's political scene and will leave office as its most popular leader.
Now, the difficult part begins. Rousseff must make good on her campaign promises to continue Silva's programs that have led Brazil to new international economic and political heights. She acknowledged the challenge in her victory speech late Sunday after overcoming centrist rival Jose Serra by winning 56 percent of the vote against his 44 percent.
"It's a challenging and difficult task to succeed him, but I will know how to honor his legacy," she said of Silva. "I will know how to advance and consolidate his work."
This is exactly what her supporters and most of the base of the governing Workers Party expect.
"Now we are certain that the country will continue in the right direction," 26-year-old teacher Hobert dos Santos said while waving Rousseff campaign flags at a celebration on a main avenue in Sao Paulo. "Dilma will be able to continue working for the people, to continue improving many of the things that Lula started and didn't have time to finish."
A former Marxist guerrilla who was jailed and tortured for three years in the early 1970s for fighting against Brazil's dictatorship, Rousseff is known as a demanding and skilled manager. She first served as Silva's energy minister and from 2005 until earlier this year was his chief of staff, running the day-to-day operations of the administration.
Despite her tough exterior, she betrayed emotion when speaking about Silva after the election results were announced.
"The joy I feel with this victory today is mixed with the emotion of his farewell. I know that a leader like Lula will never be away from his people," she said, her eyes welling with tears and voice cracking. "I will always be able to knock on his door and I'm sure that it will always will be open."
In his concession speech, Serra said he respected the voters' decision and wished the president-elect good luck.
Beginning Jan. 1, Rousseff, 62, will lead a nation on the rise, a country that will host the 2014 World Cup and that is expected to be the globe's fifth-largest economy by the time it hosts the 2016 Summer Olympics. It has also recently discovered huge oil reserves off its coast.
Silva used his 80 percent approval ratings to campaign incessantly for Rousseff, who lacks the charisma that transformed Silva from a one-time shoeshine boy into one of the globe's most popular leaders.
Now, the difficult part begins. Rousseff must make good on her campaign promises to continue Silva's programs that have led Brazil to new international economic and political heights. She acknowledged the challenge in her victory speech late Sunday after overcoming centrist rival Jose Serra by winning 56 percent of the vote against his 44 percent.
"It's a challenging and difficult task to succeed him, but I will know how to honor his legacy," she said of Silva. "I will know how to advance and consolidate his work."
This is exactly what her supporters and most of the base of the governing Workers Party expect.
"Now we are certain that the country will continue in the right direction," 26-year-old teacher Hobert dos Santos said while waving Rousseff campaign flags at a celebration on a main avenue in Sao Paulo. "Dilma will be able to continue working for the people, to continue improving many of the things that Lula started and didn't have time to finish."
Despite her tough exterior, she betrayed emotion when speaking about Silva after the election results were announced.
"The joy I feel with this victory today is mixed with the emotion of his farewell. I know that a leader like Lula will never be away from his people," she said, her eyes welling with tears and voice cracking. "I will always be able to knock on his door and I'm sure that it will always will be open."
In his concession speech, Serra said he respected the voters' decision and wished the president-elect good luck.
Beginning Jan. 1, Rousseff, 62, will lead a nation on the rise, a country that will host the 2014 World Cup and that is expected to be the globe's fifth-largest economy by the time it hosts the 2016 Summer Olympics. It has also recently discovered huge oil reserves off its coast.
Silva used his 80 percent approval ratings to campaign incessantly for Rousseff, who lacks the charisma that transformed Silva from a one-time shoeshine boy into one of the globe's most popular leaders.
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