Brazil Elects New Leader, Dilma Rousseff

[Joanne98]

by Bradley Brooks

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.

Brazil's presidential candidate for the ruling party PT (Workers Party) Dilma Roussef (L) gestures near Brazilian singer and writer Chico Buarque during a meeting with artists and intellectuals in Rio de Janeiro October 18, 2010.

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.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/11/01-1

[LeftishBrit]

1. Good news!

[bvar22]

2. The Populist reforms sweeping across Latin America...

...gives me HOPE for the World.

Viva Democracy!
I pray we get some here soon!