Brazil's Rousseff: Tortured Guerrilla to First Woman President
Brazil's first female president, Dilma Rousseff, is seeking a second term next Sunday, the next step on a political journey that began when she was a Marxist guerrilla tortured under the military dictatorship.
Rousseff, the 66-year-old daughter of a Bulgarian immigrant businessman, was the handpicked successor of two-term predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, her Workers Party mentor.
She duly saw off center-right rival Jose Serra in the 2010 poll with 56 percent of votes in the runoff.
Upon taking office, Rousseff vowed to "honor the legacy" of charismatic former union leader Lula, who enjoyed huge popularity throughout his eight years in power.
Under Lula, the PT implemented huge welfare programs, lifting some 40 million people out of poverty, and his second term, in particular, was marked by strong economic growth.
But Rousseff's tenure has been marked by an economic downturn that has seen her solid approval ratings take a serious dive.
Rousseff blames the slowdown on the global crisis, but critics point to what they say is an over-interventionist government policy.
A cool technocrat, Rousseff is known for her strong technical grasp of government business, though her dour style is a radical departure from the charisma of her predecessor, who still enjoys the kind of public acclaim normally afforded a rock star.
Lula, impressed with Rousseff's managerial capabilities and "something different" about her, made her energy minister in his first term.
There she clashed with then-environment minister -- now her poll rival -- Marina Silva over investments in power generation, including hydroelectric dams in the Amazon basin.
Rousseff became Lula's chief of staff between 2005 and 2010 before Lula chose her to succeed him.
The president has come under fire from opponents in recent months over corruption scandals at state-owned energy giant Petrobras, whose advisory board she chaired when the firm purchased the Pasadena refinery in Texas for some 28 times what the previous owners had paid.
Congress is now investigating another scandal over allegations by a former Petrobras director that dozens of politicians -- many PT members or allies -- received huge kickbacks on oil deals.
During the opening ceremony of the World Cup, a tournament whose mammoth cost provoked public unrest, Rousseff responded to boos from fans by saying: "I have come up against hugely difficult situations in my life, including attacks which took me to the limit physically."
The comment alluded to the torture she suffered under the military.
"But nothing knocked me out of my stride," Rousseff added.
Born on December 14, 1947 to a middle-class family in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte, Rousseff was soon engaged in dissident groups fomenting armed struggle against the 1964-85 military dictatorship.
Arrested at 22, she was tortured and spent almost three years in jail for subversion.
The twice-married Rousseff has a daughter, Paula, from a 30-year relationship with former second husband and fellow anti-dictatorship dissident Carlos de Araujo.
With Araujo, she helped found the Brazilian Labor Party in 1979. She joined the PT in 2000 and held a range of party jobs in the southern city of Porto Alegre, where she spent much of her career before heading for Brasilia.
A year prior to the 2010 campaign, Rousseff was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer and endured chemotherapy that forced her to cover up hair loss with a wig, which she at times used for self-deprecating jokes.
Source: Agence France Presse
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