Beyond the Bubble

This week, the nation of Brazil added itself to the increasingly long list of countries that have recently elected a female leader. Campaigning on the same platform as her incredibly popular predecessor, 62-year-old Dilma Rousseff beat out political rival José Serra by 12 percent of the vote to become the first female president of Brazil.
While many differing narratives have been written about the rise of Rousseff, her own political story seems the most compelling. In her youth, Rousseff the blossoming political leader joined a radical political group that opposed the country’s dictatorship. The Globe and Mail reported that over this three-year period Rousseff instructed comrades on Marxist theory, wrote for an underground newspaper and helped to lead the guerilla organization.
Following this period of radical anti-government opposition in 1970, Rousseff was captured by Brazil’s police and subjected to brutal torture.  At the time of her incarceration military prosecutor considered Rousseff to be a political dissident of such great magnitude that she was labeled the “Joan of Arc” of the Marxist movement.
Upon her release three years later, Rousseff pursued an economics degree and later sought political office at the city and state levels. Until her most recent presidential campaign, Rousseff also served for two years as Brazil’s national energy minister under outgoing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Working under da Silva, the president-elect developed a management style that has resulted in the Brazilian media labeling her the “Iron lady.” Though many feel that she does not possess the charisma of her predecessor, Brazilians have decisively chosen Rousseff as the individual that they want to lead their nation in its time of rapid economic growth.
In keeping with this capitalist shift, the president-elect has repeatedly explained that she has experienced a dramatic shift in political thinking since her early days as a Marxist. Campaigning under a similar economic platform to her predecessor, Rousseff has stated that she supports a form of pragmatic capitalism. Such a doctrine is well received amongst the Brazilian people, many of whom express enthusiasm for the recent domestic economic expansion that has occurred in Brazil. Citizens have also keenly observed the incumbent government’s skillful handling of the economic crisis. These two economic successes have boded well for the presidential campaign of Rousseff, who was fortunate enough to be thought of as da Silva’s “handpicked protégé” by the Brazilian people.
While pragmatic capitalism may be the most recent title accorded to the government’s economic strategy, it is clear that Rousseff maintains strong ties to her socialist roots.  As the minister for energy, she gained firsthand knowledge of the economic importance of Brazil’s growing oil production, but has stated that she would consider bring the expanding oil sector within the government’s control.
According to the New York Times, Rousseff has also “promised to build millions of low-income homes, expand a community-policing program pioneered in Rio de Janeiro, and substantially improve the quality of education and public health care.” To this end she has maintained that her number one priority is the eradication of poverty within her nation.
Rousseff has also professed that she hopes to prioritize gender equality. According to the BBC, Rousseff said, “I am here stating my first post-election commitment: to honor Brazilian women so that this fact — unprecedented until now — becomes something normal and can be repeated and expanded in companies, public institutions, and organizations that are representative of our entire society."
The president-elect will lead a nation on the rise. Brazil will receive the world in four years when it hosts the World Cup. It has also been estimated that by the time Brazil hosts the Summer Olympics in 2016, the nation will be the world’s fifth largest economy. Such a hypothesis is based largely on the recent discovery of huge oil reserves off of the Brazilian coast.
As noted in the Globe and Mail Rousseff hopes to unite the entire country, building off of the success of her political mentor. Speaking to reporters the day before her presidential win she stated, “Starting tomorrow we begin a new stage of democracy. I will rule for everyone, [and] speak with all Brazilians, without exception.”
While she may not yet have the support of the whole nation, such words and proposed actions seem poised to sway Brazilians in her favor. Brazil’s story today, though undoubtedly one of an increasingly democratic society, now features the deeply compelling narrative of Rousseff’s personal story and political aims. She seems a thoughtful and passionate candidate, one that will work towards the same goals she did in her more radical youth — to “fight and participate in a dream to build a better Brazil.”