Breaking Barriers: Dilma Rousseff is the first female president of Brazil

By Laura Duncan on 03/01/2011 @ 04:05 PM

Did you know? In 2010 Brazil elected the first female president in the country’s history. As a Brazilian citizen, I want to begin my contribution to Women's History Month by talking a little bit about my new President.

Dilma Rousseff was born in 1947 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Her father was a Bulgarian immigrant who was politically persecuted in his home country and left for Brazil to start a new life. After the military coup of 1964 that overthrew President Joao Goulart, Rousseff joined a left-wing underground resistance movement. Because of her political opposition to military rule, she was tortured and imprisoned for three years.

Brazil began its transition to democracy in 1985, and Rousseff soon accepted her first work in government, as Municipal Secretary of Treasury in the city of Porto Alegre. In 2003 the recently elected President Lula nominated her Minister for Mines and Energy. In 2005 she was named his Chief of Staff, and political analysts soon began speculating that Rousseff had been chosen by Lula as his preferred successor after he finished his second term.

In 2009, one year before the elections, Rousseff was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer. She underwent chemotherapy and was pronounced by doctors to be cured in the same year. Rousseff was elected largely because of Lula’s 80% approval rating and her promise to maintain his social programs. She has, however, distanced herself from Lula on certain issues. In an interview with the Washington Post, she was asked about then President Lula’s abstention in a UN resolution against the stoning of a woman in Iran. She had this to say “I am not the president of Brazil [today], but I would feel uncomfortable as a woman president-elect not to say anything against the stoning. My position will not change when I take office. I do not agree with the way Brazil voted. It's not my position.”

Especially during Women’s History month, we celebrate the achievements of women who have broken barriers, like President Dilma Rousseff. Her accomplishments have lead the way for many more to come.

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