A former Marxist guerrilla who was tortured and imprisoned during Brazil's long dictatorship was elected Sunday as the first female president of Latin America's biggest nation, a country in the midst of a rapid economic and political rise.
A statement from the Supreme Electoral Court, which oversees elections, said governing party candidate Dilma Rousseff won the election.
With nearly all ballots counted, Rousseff had 56 percent of the vote compared to just under 44 percent for her centrist rival, Jose Serra, the electoral court said.
In a 25-minute victory speech to jubilant supporters in Brasilia, Rousseff said that her first promise was to honor the women of Brazil and that she hoped her win would allow fathers and mothers to look their daughters in the eyes and say, 'Yes, a woman can.'
Known for her tough and serious demeanor, Rousseff only betrayed emotion when she spoke about President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil's hugely popular leader the last eight years who chose her as his party's candidate to succeed him and used all his political will to get her elected.
The joy I feel with this victory today is mixed with the emotion of his farewell. I know that a leader like Lula will never be away from his people, she said, using the president's nickname as her eyes welled with tears and her voice cracked. I will always be able to knock on his door and I'm sure that it will always will be open.
In his concession speech, Serra said he respected the voters' decision and wished the president-elect good luck.
Rousseff, 62, wasn't scheduled to make any more appearances Sunday night.
Beginning Jan. 1, she will lead a nation on the rise, a country that will host the 2014 World Cup and that is expected to be the globe's fifth-largest economy by the time it hosts the 2016 Summer Olympics. It has also recently discovered huge oil reserves off its coast.
Full story: http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/ex-guerrilla-to-be-brazils-first-female-president/19696856
A statement from the Supreme Electoral Court, which oversees elections, said governing party candidate Dilma Rousseff won the election.
With nearly all ballots counted, Rousseff had 56 percent of the vote compared to just under 44 percent for her centrist rival, Jose Serra, the electoral court said.
In a 25-minute victory speech to jubilant supporters in Brasilia, Rousseff said that her first promise was to honor the women of Brazil and that she hoped her win would allow fathers and mothers to look their daughters in the eyes and say, 'Yes, a woman can.'
Known for her tough and serious demeanor, Rousseff only betrayed emotion when she spoke about President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil's hugely popular leader the last eight years who chose her as his party's candidate to succeed him and used all his political will to get her elected.
The joy I feel with this victory today is mixed with the emotion of his farewell. I know that a leader like Lula will never be away from his people, she said, using the president's nickname as her eyes welled with tears and her voice cracked. I will always be able to knock on his door and I'm sure that it will always will be open.
In his concession speech, Serra said he respected the voters' decision and wished the president-elect good luck.
Rousseff, 62, wasn't scheduled to make any more appearances Sunday night.
Beginning Jan. 1, she will lead a nation on the rise, a country that will host the 2014 World Cup and that is expected to be the globe's fifth-largest economy by the time it hosts the 2016 Summer Olympics. It has also recently discovered huge oil reserves off its coast.
Full story: http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/ex-guerrilla-to-be-brazils-first-female-president/19696856
