Dilma Roussef, Brazil's first female president, vows war on poverty

[Better Believe It]

Dilma Rousseff Inauguration: Brazil's First Female President Sworn In
By BRADLEY BROOKS
January 1, 2011

BRASILIA, Brazil — From torture in a dictatorship-era jail cell to the helm of Latin America's largest nation, it's been an unlikely political rise for President Dilma Rousseff, a former Marxist rebel turned career technocrat who claimed Brazil's seat of power Saturday.

In becoming the country's 36th president, Rousseff pulled off a feat nearly unthinkable a year ago when the relative unknown was tapped by then-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to be the ruling Workers Party candidate.

She swept into office on the back of Silva's near universal adoration in Brazil.

"I am going to consolidate the transformative work done by President Lula," said Rousseff, 63, during a 40-minute inaugural address. "He changed the way the government is run and led the people to trust in themselves."

Silva left office as the nation's most popular president, with an approval rating that hit 87 percent in his last week. Rousseff served during both of his four-year terms, first as energy minister and then as chief of staff.

His social programs and wealth redistribution helped pull 20 million people out of poverty. Once on the brink of a sovereign default in 2002, the nation now lends money to the International Monetary Fund. Unemployment is at a record low, and the currency has more than doubled against the U.S. dollar. Brazil will host the 2014 World Cup and is expected to be the world's fifth-largest economy by the time the 2016 Olympics come to the nation.

Read the full article at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/01/dilma-rousseff-inaugurati_n_803193.html


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Roussef, Brazil's first female president, vows war on poverty
By Diana Renee | Deutsche Presse-Agentur
January 1, 2011

In a 45-minute speech that was interrupted by applause on numerous occasions, Rousseff wept when she remembered her past as a member of a leftist guerrilla group and her dead comrades in the fight against the 1964-85 dictatorship in Brazil, during which she was herself imprisoned and suffered torture.

"I devoted all my life to Brazil's cause. I gave up my youth for the dream of a country that was fair and democratic. I withstood the most extreme adversities that were inflicted to all those of us who dared fight arbitrariness," she said.

"Many in my generation, who fell along the way, cannot share the joy of this moment. I share with them this conquest, and I pay them my tribute," she added.

Rousseff also acknowledged her place in history as the country's first female leader.

"I feel immensely honored by that choice by the Brazilian people and I know the historic meaning of this decision," she noted.

"I come here to open doors so that many other women can also, in the future, be president. And so that, today, all Brazilian women feel the pride and the joy of being a woman. I do not come here to enrich my biography but to glorify the life of every Brazilian woman. It is my supreme commitment to honor women, to protect those who are weakest and to govern for all," Rousseff said.

Rousseff further stressed that she would "not make the smallest concession to the protectionism of rich countries," and she noted that Brazil has "a sacred mission" to show the world that it can grow fast without destroying the environment.

The new president has appointed nine female ministers in her 37-member Cabinet.

Read the full article at:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/01/01/106064/roussef-brazils-first-female-president.html#

President Dilma Roussef


http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dcJh5I8CIOk/TC0mnexL1TI/AAAAAAAAHro/zrUI4mVxGDQ/s1600/DILMA+ROUSSEFF.jpg

[villager]

1. The banks won't like that.

Their employees in Washington, D.C. may not be too happy, either.

[Cleita]

3. You can count on it. n/t

[Cleita]

2. That's refreshing. Too bad we don't have another

LBJ who would do the same. I hope she stops the damage being done by corporations to the Amazon too. This also has something to do with global warming.

[rug]

4. The Lounge has addressed another critical aspect of this election.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x9589832

[immoderate]

5. Brazil has the worst income disparity of industrial nations.

This may have something to do with remote, indigenous populations, nevertheless their poverty is severe.

--imm

[Catherina]

9. but doing much better thanks to Lula

Lula’s legacy is enviably “maravilhoso,” as the numbers attest — according to the IMF, per capita income in Brazil rose by 162.8 percent between 2001 and 2010. Furthermore, there is every prospect of the Gross Domestic Product rising by a further 35 percent, i.e. during the highly probable presidency of Dilma.

And that is not all — again according to the IMF, the per capita income of each and every one of 193 millions Brazilians could be reaching the five-digit mark next year at 10,000 dollars while in 2013, Brazil could be overtaking Italy to become the 7th economy of the world. Those bleak figures from 1968-1973 when the World Bank registered 11 percent growth for the entire period and a per capita income of barely 500 dollars would fade into an increasingly distant past.

And there is more still — the economic transformation of the Lula years has trickled down to the lowest social strata (indeed “trickle” would be an understatement). According to the economist Marcelo Neri from the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, the per capita income of Brazil’s richest 10 percent grew 11.2 percent but the poorest 10 percent shot up 72 percent.

http://www.hacer.org/latam/?p=4518

(2007)

Whule Brazil was doing that, the US was doing this.



Breaks my heart. Pretty soon, we'll outdo them the way we're going.

http://journal.heinz.cmu.edu/images/Macurak_Fig1.bmp

[immoderate]

10. Acknowledged -- he has done an amazing job.

Just to say that bossa nova makes me an honorary Brazilian. And Portuguese is my favorite language that I don't understand.

Friends who lived in Brazil years ago all remarked on the income disparity. We need a Lula here.

Gini Index plot shows wealth distribution. High numbers are bad.


Latest figure I could find for Brazil was a Gini of 56 in 2005. So things are looking better.

--imm

[Better Believe It]

6. Kick

[Statistical]

7. Brazil is on the rise, and it is a great place to invest.

VALE in particular.

http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:VALE

[Catherina]

8. Damn Marxists everywhere lol. Rec'd with a salute to her. Meanwhile

Meanwhile, we have a ludicrous war on terror.

[ladjf]

11. Things are looking up in Brazil. Perhaps there might be some

Brazilian type initiatives that would work for America. nt