Biography

Dilma Rousseff’s iconic mugshot when she was in military captivity (in public domain).

Dilma Rousseff was born on December 14, 1947 to a Bulgarian father and a Brazilian mother. At the age of 20, she joined a guerrilla group in order to fight against the Brazilian military dictatorship. Captured and tortured, Rousseff spent three years in prison for subversive behavior.¹ After her release from prison, she completed a university degree. In the 1980s, she helped found the PDT (Democratic Labor Party) and became the Secretary of Treasury of the city of Porto Alegre and later the Minister of Energy of the State of Rio Grande do Sul. In 2000, Rousseff joined the PT (Workers? Party). Two years later, in 2002, President Lula appointed her Minister of Energy. In 2005, she became the Chief of Staff to the President, and in October 2010, Dilma Rousseff became the first female elected president of Brazil. ²

Minister of Mines and Energy & Chief of Staff

Although some critics might have thought that her socialist path would influence her public policies, after being appointed by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva head the Ministry of Energy, Rousseff respected contracts made by the previous Cardoso administration that had favored the private sector. She was known for her efforts in preventing blackouts and for supporting a greater privatization of the energy sector.As minister, Rousseff defended a policy requiring domestic participation in oil production by Petrobras, the state-owned Brazilian energy and oil conglomerate, which created thousands of jobs in the country, and she supported the bids for two state-owned oil platforms.  She also backed the Brazilian shipbuilding industry. By 2008, that industry employed 40 thousand people, compared to 500 in the mid-90s, making Brazil the six largest ship industry in the world.³

In addition, Rousseff implemented a program called ?Luz Para Todos? (Electricity for All) in order to accelerate the spread of electricity to rural areas through government subsidies. She hoped to provide electricity to 2.5 million rural homes by 2008 but fell short of this goal by 100,000 households. However, by 2010, the program had provided electricity for an additional 1.7 million houses.⁴

Rousseff was the first woman to hold the position of Chief of Staff to the President, stepping up to the post in 2005 when José Dirceu resigned amidst a political scandal.

Presidential Elections

Dilma and Lula in 2007 at a ceremony for the launch of Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento, an economic stimulation plan (in public domain).

In June 2010, Dilma Rousseff launched her presidential campaign with Lula?s support, promising to maintain his popular policies, such as the Bolsa Família. Rousseff?s presidential campaign constantly criticized the Cardoso administration as the ?previous government,? placing her as the heir to Lula?s policies. President Lula went on national television to openly support her. The Election Courts ruled that this violated presidential impartiality and fined the campaign.

In the first round of the elections, Rousseff received 47 percent of the votes. Because Brazilian election law requires that a candidate receive a majority vote, a run-off election pitted her against center-right candidate José Serra. In the second round, Rousseff won with 56% of the votes. ⁵ 

Accomplishments to Date

Dilma leads as Brazil’s 36th President (in public domain).

As president, Dilma is known for driving the country forward at a steady pace, continuing the Bolsa Familia and previous policies put in place by Lula. In 2012, Dilm   a vetoed certain parts of the new Forest Code that gave amnesty to landowners illegally deforesting the Amazon.  However, she still fell short of the general expectation, brought forward by environmentalists, that she would veto the entire bill. In May 2012 she approved a new Access to Information Law that declassified many government documents from the period of the military regime. She also appointed a seven-person Truth Commission to investigate human rights violations and other illegal actions committed by the state during the dictatorship.

Economically, Rousseff is known for favoring governmental intervention when needed; she strongly believes that Brazil has internal strength to fight off international economic downturns. ⁶ In June 2012, she announced a stimulus package to fight a slowdown in Brazilian growth due to the global recession that started in 2008.⁷ Her approval rating remains in the high 70s, and she is  predicted to win a second four-year term in 2014.⁸

Sources

• “Profile: Dilma Rousseff.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 5 Aug. 2012. Web.
• Bennett, Allen. ?Dilma Rousseff Biography? Agência Brasil, 9 August 2010.
• Cabral, Marcelo. ?Petrobras empurra retomada dos estaleiros no Brasil?. G1 Globo, 3 October 2010. Web.
• Sales, Claudio J.D. “Luz Para Todos, Que Se Apaga.” Acende Brasil. Folha De S. Paulo/Instituto Acende Brasil, 28 Apr. 2008. Web
• Campanerut, Camila. “Pesquisa CNT/Sensus: Dilma Tem 46% Das Intenções De Voto; Serra, 28,1%.” BOL. N.p., 24 Aug. 2010. Web.
• Press, The Associated. “Brazil: Stimulus Is Announced.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 28 June 2012. Web.
• “Profile: Dilma Rousseff.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 5 Aug. 2012. Web.
• “Dilma Rousseff.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web.