Dilma Rousseff will take office as Brazil’s first female president on Saturday, Jan. 1, after narrowly winning the elections in October.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who handpicked her as his successor, supported her campaign to become the country’s 36th president, with his immense popularity and influence.
“She was an extensive part of Lula’s government,“ Peter Hakim, a senior fellow and president emeritus of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, told the Miami Herald. “She was the chief operating officer, if you like, and she was a very tough manager. She considered Lula’s government as much hers as his.”
Rousseff, 63, served as Lula’s chief of staff from June 2005 to March 2010 and as his minister of mines and energy from January 2003 to June 2005.
The technocrat and ex-Marxist guerrilla will be inheriting a booming economy left by Lula, whose administration led the country’s economy to grow by about 7.5 percent in 2010, the highest in 24 years, according to the Herald.
“As Lula’s handpicked successor, Dilma will have to deal with high expectations for continued gains,” Michael Shifter, president of Inter-American Dialogue, told the New York Times.
As she takes over the nation’s highest office on the first day of 2011, Rousseff seems to be anticipating a busy and prosperous year.
“Friends, it’s been very nice to receive all of your support on Twitter in 2010,“ she said in Portuguese on her official Twitter page mid-December. ”Soon I will have so little time to be here with you guys. But let’s try to talk as much as possible in 2011.”
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who handpicked her as his successor, supported her campaign to become the country’s 36th president, with his immense popularity and influence.
“She was an extensive part of Lula’s government,“ Peter Hakim, a senior fellow and president emeritus of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, told the Miami Herald. “She was the chief operating officer, if you like, and she was a very tough manager. She considered Lula’s government as much hers as his.”
Rousseff, 63, served as Lula’s chief of staff from June 2005 to March 2010 and as his minister of mines and energy from January 2003 to June 2005.
The technocrat and ex-Marxist guerrilla will be inheriting a booming economy left by Lula, whose administration led the country’s economy to grow by about 7.5 percent in 2010, the highest in 24 years, according to the Herald.
“As Lula’s handpicked successor, Dilma will have to deal with high expectations for continued gains,” Michael Shifter, president of Inter-American Dialogue, told the New York Times.
As she takes over the nation’s highest office on the first day of 2011, Rousseff seems to be anticipating a busy and prosperous year.
“Friends, it’s been very nice to receive all of your support on Twitter in 2010,“ she said in Portuguese on her official Twitter page mid-December. ”Soon I will have so little time to be here with you guys. But let’s try to talk as much as possible in 2011.”
