Dilma Rousseff, the "Iron Lady"
Leadership Profile: Dilma Rousseff “Iron Lady”
January 14, 2015
Primary Article Contributors
Omar Mashnuk - Team Leader
Tom Jones - Industry Analyst for the Latin America Region
Dilma Rousseff, born on December 14, 1947, adopted socialist views in her youth joining left-wing guerrilla groups in 1964. In 1970 she was caught, jailed and reportedly tortured. Upon her release in 1972, Rousseff and her husband help create the Democratic Labour Party (PDT). After nearly thirty years Rousseff left her party to join the Worker’s Party (PT) in 2000. In 2003, Rousseff became Minister of Energy. As Minister of Energy she also served on the board of directors for the state run oil giant Petrobras until 2010. Rousseff became President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s protegé and Chief of Staff in 2005 due to the resignation of the former Chief of Staff, Jose Dirceu over a corruption scandal. Rousseff served admirably as Chief of Staff until she resigned in 2010 so that she could begin her presidential campaign. In a runoff election Rousseff was elected President.
As president, Rousseff’s major achievement has been her championing of social welfare amongst Brazil’s poorest citizens. Her efforts have included the continuation of her predecessor’s Bolsa Familia program, which benefits 36 million Brazilians across the country. Bolsa Familia is the world’s largest Conditional Cash Transfer program and gives monthly cash stipends to Brazilian citizens who earn less than R$140 per month as long as their children attend school and are vaccinated. The impact of Bolsa Familia is readily seen. As of 2013 Bolsa Familia has taken 22 million Brazilians out of poverty and from 2001 to 2011 the proportion of the population in extreme poverty fell 10% to 4.2%. Furthermore, during the same period, the incomes of the poorest 20% has risen seven times faster than that of the richest 20% in brazil.
Rousseff is also responsible for her promotion of Pronatec, a government plan aimed at providing greater access to higher education through programs offering free vocational training, scholarships and subsidized student loans. This program has also been successful, providing 20 billion reals in subsidized loans to about 1.6 million students and scholarships for 1.4 million others.
