Dilma Rousseff

Dilma Rousseff
Official portrait of Dilma Rousseff
Official portrait, 2011
36th President of Brazil
In office
1 January 2011 – 31 August 2016
Suspended: 12 May 2016 – 31 August 2016
Vice PresidentMichel Temer
Preceded byLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Succeeded byMichel Temer
3rd Chair of the New Development Bank
Assumed office
24 March 2023
Preceded byMarcos Prado Troyjo
Chief of Staff of the Presidency
In office
21 June 2005 – 31 March 2010
PresidentLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Preceded byJosé Dirceu
Succeeded byErenice Guerra
Minister of Mines and Energy
In office
1 January 2003 – 21 June 2005
PresidentLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Preceded byFrancisco Luiz Sibut Gomide
Succeeded bySilas Rondeau
Further offices held
Secretary of Mines, Energy and Communications of Rio Grande do Sul
In office
1 January 1999 – 2 November 2002
GovernorOlívio Dutra
Preceded byGustavo Eugenio Dias Gotze
Succeeded byLuiz Valdir Andres
In office
1 December 1993 – 2 January 1995
GovernorAlceu Collares
Preceded byAirton Langaro Dipp
Succeeded byAssis Roberto Sanchotene de Souza
Secretary of Finance of Porto Alegre
In office
1 January 1986 – 24 September 1988
MayorAlceu Collares
Preceded byJaime Oscar Silva Ungaretti
Succeeded byPolíbio Braga
Personal details
Born (1947-12-14) 14 December 1947 (age 76)
Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Political partyPT (2001–present)
Other political
affiliations
PDT (1979–2001)
Spouses
Cláudio Galeno Linhares
(m. 1967; sep. 1969)
Carlos Paixão de Araújo
(m. 1969; div. 2000)
ChildrenPaula Rousseff
Alma materFederal University of Rio Grande do Sul
Signature
Websitewww.dilma.com.br

Dilma Vana Rousseff (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈdʒiwmɐ ˈvɐ̃nɐ ʁuˈsɛf(i)]; born 14 December 1947) is a Brazilian economist and politician who has been the Chair of the New Development Bank since March 2023. Previously, she served as the 36th president of Brazil from 2011 until her impeachment and removal from office on 31 August 2016.[1] She is the first woman to have held the Brazilian presidency.[2] She also previously served as the chief of staff to former and current president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from 2005 to 2010.[3]

Rousseff was raised in an upper middle class household in Belo Horizonte.[3] She became a socialist in her youth. After the 1964 coup d'état she joined left-wing and Marxist urban guerrilla groups that fought against the military dictatorship. Rousseff was captured, tortured, and jailed from 1970 to 1972.[3][4]

After her release, Rousseff rebuilt her life in Porto Alegre with her husband Carlos Araújo.[3] They both helped to found the Democratic Labour Party (PDT) in Rio Grande do Sul, and participated in several of the party's electoral campaigns. She became the treasury secretary of Porto Alegre under Alceu Collares, and later Secretary of Energy of Rio Grande do Sul under both Collares and Olívio Dutra.[3] In 2001, after an internal dispute in the Dutra cabinet, she left the PDT and joined the Workers' Party (PT).[3]

In 2002, Rousseff became an energy policy advisor to presidential candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who on winning the election invited her to become his minister of energy.[3] After chief of Staff José Dirceu resigned in 2005 in a political crisis triggered by the Mensalão corruption scandal, Rousseff became chief of staff and remained in that post until 31 March 2010, when she stepped down to run for president.[3] She was elected in a run-off in 2010, beating Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) candidate José Serra. In 2014 she won a narrow second-round victory over Aécio Neves, also of PSDB, to serve her second term as president.[5]

Impeachment proceedings against Rousseff began in the Chamber of Deputies on 3 December 2015. On 12 May 2016, the Senate of Brazil suspended President Rousseff's powers and duties for up to six months or until the Senate decided whether to remove her from office or to acquit her.[6] Vice President Michel Temer assumed her powers and duties as acting president of Brazil during her suspension.[7][8] On 31 August 2016, the Senate voted 61–20 to convict, finding Rousseff guilty of breaking budgetary laws, and removed her from office.[9][10]

On 5 August 2018, the PT officially launched Rousseff's candidacy for a seat in the Federal Senate from the state of Minas Gerais.[11] Rousseff finished fourth in the final vote and was defeated for her Senate run.[12]

  1. ^ Taub, Amanda (31 August 2016). "All Impeachments Are Political. But Was Brazil's Something More Sinister?". The New York Times. Washington. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Dilma, 1ª mulher presidente e única economista em 121 anos de República" [Dilma, 1st female president and only economist in 121 years of Republic]. BOL Notícias (in Brazilian Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro: Universo Online. EFE. 31 October 2010. Archived from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Bennett, Allen (9 August 2010). "Dilma Rousseff biography". Agência Brasil. Archived from the original on 24 October 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2017 – via JusBrasil.
  4. ^ Brooks, Bradley (31 October 2010). "Ex-guerrilla to be Brazil's first female president". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on 4 November 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  5. ^ "Brazil elections: Dilma Rousseff promises reform after poll win". BBC News. 27 October 2014. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014.
  6. ^ McKirdy, Euan (12 May 2016). "Rousseff on the precipice as Senate votes on impeachment". CNN. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  7. ^ Jamieson, Alastair (12 May 2016). "Brazil's Senate Votes to Impeach President Dilma Rousseff". NBC News. NBC. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  8. ^ "Afastada, Dilma mantém salário, Alvorada, avião e assessores" [Away, Dilma keeps salary, alvorada, plane and advisors]. Congresso em Foco (in Brazilian Portuguese). 12 May 2016. Archived from the original on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  9. ^ Shoichet, Catherine E.; McKirdy, Euan (31 August 2016). "Brazil's Dilma Rousseff faces judgment day in Senate". CNN. Archived from the original on 31 August 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  10. ^ "Brazil President Dilma Rousseff removed from office by Senate". BBC News. BBC. 1 September 2016. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  11. ^ Almeida, Fabiana (5 August 2018). "Ex-presidente Dilma Rousseff é lançada como candidata ao Senado por MG" [Former president Dilma Rousseff is chosen as a candidate for the Senate for MG]. G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). Belo Horizonte: TV Globo. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  12. ^ Lellis, Leonardo (7 October 2018). "MG: Rodrigo Pacheco e Carlos Viana eleitos senadores; Dilma em 4º lugar" [MG: Rodrigo Pacheco and Carlos Viana elected senators; Dilma in 4th place]. Veja (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 16 October 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.