Dilma Rousseff becomes first female president of Brazil

President Dilma Rousseff belongs to PT (Workers' Party) while Governor Geraldo Alckmin of Sao Paulo state is with the PSDB (Brazilian Social Democracy Party).  There are 27 states including the federal district where the national capital Brasilia is located. State governors--also powers to reckon with--assumed office on New Year's Day. 

On New Year's Day, Dilma Rousseff became the first woman to become president of Brazil in 121 years.  She garnered 56% of the popular vote in the run-off elections last October.

Dilma was a student activist and joined the leftist resistance against the military dictatorship in the 1960s.  She was tortured jailed for three years, and went back to school upon her release.


Governor Antonio Augusto Anastasia of Minas Gerais state is not a Dilma partymate. He belongs to the PSDB also like Alckmin of Sao Paulo.  Anastasia did not attend Dilma's inaugural reception.

 In attendance during her inauguration in the capital Brasilia were 23 heads of state including Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Paraguay's Fernando Lugo and Uruguay's Jose Mujica, who are said to be left-leaning, nine vice presidents, 76 ambassadors and 24 secretaries of state including Hillary Clinton. 

There are now three female presidents in Latin America:  recently widowed Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who took over the presidency of Argentina from her husband Nestor in 2007, Laura Chinchilla who was assumed the presidency of Costa Rica in May 2010, and Dilma who inherited the reins of government from her mentor, Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, who she served as his chief of staff and before that, as minister of energy.

Lula set the bar for Dilma's success as leader of almost 200 million people--87% approval rating after eight years that saw Brazil enjoy an economic boom and rising as a global power.


Lula and Dilma (01 December 1010).

 Lula fully backed her up during the election campaign.  Since they both belong to the PT (Workers' Party), she is expected to continue his policies.  According to reports, Dilma acknowledged that "Lula has left this legacy to me: I'll be the mother of the Brazilian people."

In her inaugural speech, she "committed to honoring women, to protecting the most vulnerable and to govern for all."  Of her 37 ministers, nine are women. Brazil is a federation of 27 states including the federal district, hence, Dilma will be working with 26 state governors who may have policy agenda of their own. They may not also be with her political party.

She also said that her government will "give great attention to emerging nations .... [it] will not make the smallest concession to the protectionism from rich nations that suffocate any opportunity for so many nations to overcome poverty through the hard work of production."

Dilma Rousseff is coming in as Brazil faces bright prospects in the exploitation of its massive offshore oil reserves, and prepares to host the Copa Mundial in 2014 and the Summer Olympics in 2016 while struggling with povery, crime and corruption.  She vowed "to help eradicate extreme poverty in the next decade."


Sources:

1.   Baker, Hazel. (2011, Jan 01). Brazil hands power to first female president. Sky News Online. Retrieved from http://news.sky.com/skynews/Article/201101115877045

2.  Moura, Helena de. (2011, Jan 01). Brazil inaugurates first female president.   CNN World Online. Retrieved from  http://articles.cnn.com/2011-01-01/world/brazil.female.president_1_first-female-president-luiz-inacio-lula-brazil?_s=PM:WORLD

3.  BBC News. (2010, Oct 31). The women presidents of Latin America. BBC News Latin America & Carribean.  Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11447598

Rio War Ending: Brazil Flag Waves Over the Slums

Reconquering territory!

Military occupation.

Like any Bruce Willis do-good urban warfare movie, criminal elements either die during the eardrum-splitting exchange of gunfire, or get captured after a hot pursuit by foot or police cars through a maze of hide-outs while a helicopter hovers above for tactical support, or, to everyone's frustration, escape. 

Urban war trophies:  arms and drugs.

The paradox is that it was this urban war that appears to have given the two-year pacification program in the favelas a big push.  President Luiz Inacio da Silva was saying he couldn't understand why the criminals should be in control over the favelas; he himself dispatched 800 troopers to support the police and military forces in their assault of the Complexo do Alemao and Vila Cruzeiro. There were casualties, yes, but the operation succeeded.  The denouement had the soldiers waving the Brazil flag over the re-conquered territory.  Wanted criminals were captured, arms arsenals and drug warehouses captured. The war pains would probably be felt by the slum residents for a long time. 

A hero of the Rio war returns home to his pregnant wife.

President-elect Dilma Rousseff takes over government on December 31st.  Probably, Silva wants Dilma not to be bothered by the favela issues while she takes care of more pressing government agenda, and as Brazil prepares for the great samba welcome to the World Cup 2014 and the Summer Olympics in 2018!

A view of the two faces of Rio, the bright city and the dark slums.

Women of Power

It just so happened that two papers--Kleine Zeitung of Austria and Manila Bulletin of the Philippines-- had women as subjects in their front pages last Saturday, 06 November.

The Kleine Zeitung featured six women with political power in their respective countries:  Angela Merkel of Germany; Mari Kiviniemi of Finland, Julia Gillard of Australia, recently widowed Cristina Kirchner of Argentina, president-elect Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, and Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica.

"More and more women come to power, do they govern differently from men?," the paper asked political scientist Birgit Sauer.

According to her, the increasing influence and power of women in government in Latin America and in some Asian countries can be traced back to family origins.  "Women from political dynasties have power," she said, citing Cristina Kirchner of Argentina, although "there are also many young democracies in Latin America, where political will to change" is the underlying factor. 

Do women differ from men in policy making? Sauer says yes, but adds that "gender is not a political issue. I know there are no scientific studies on the political behavior of women, but one finds women parliamentarians and ministers no different from men. Politicians are primarily committed to their party.  Women are no different ...I do not expect that men and women are fundamentally different.   For me, behaviors and gender roles are very much determined by context.  The behavior of politicians is shaped by the competitive power-related policy area." 

A woman wants to compete in a game that is dominated by men, do you think that she must follow the rules of men?  Sauer said, "Exactly.   Anyone who embarks on this territory must also adjust to the environment."  

She does not believe that the world would be better off with more women at the helm.  

We checked if there are other women holding the levers of power today; and here they are-- a mix of royalties and those who were elected by popular or parliamentary vote:

"State and Head of Governments Today"

On the other hand, eleven women of power in their careers or fields of expertise were featured in the Manila Bulletin. These were the Philippines' TOWNS (The Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service) 2010' who were honored in Malacanang by the President Benigno Aquino III himself. 

The president called them "inspirasyon kayo ng bawat Pilipino [an inspiration to every Filipino]" and expressed  hope that they will not get tired in giving strength to women affected by poverty and violence.

We are most familiar with Kara David because we do not fail to watch her documentaries in I-Witness of GMA7.  One of them, "Ambulancia de Paa" won the George Foster Peabody Award early this year.  We know that she fully deserves her award for excellence in broadcast journalism.

We met Kara a few years ago when she filmed the release of young turtles to the China Sea and featured it in her documentary on turtle protection and preservation.  Timpuyog Zambales, our NGO, maintains a turtle conservation hatchery in the coastal barangay of La Paz in San Narciso, Zambales.  

The other TOWNS 2010 awardees were:

·  Therese Tianco "Gang" Badoy, founder of Rocking Society through Alternative Education or Rock Ed who  "by nurturing volunteerism, reached out to the youth to empower them and move them to participate in empowering others to uphold their rights to better society."

·  Arlene Javellana Bag-ao, Akbayan party-list representative, and lead counsel in the Sumilao farmers' case, who "by choosing to work at the grassroots level, has helped in the promotion of policy reforms to benefit marginalized groups and thus has given hope to the less educated, less sophisticated, and less protected people of the Philippines."

·  Laura Tenmatay David, the first female oceanographer in the country and a faculty member in the UP Marine Science Institute, who by "using a multidisciplinary approach, has studied how ocean physical characteristics affect productivity and diversity."

·  Jo Enrica Catalla Enriquez, executive director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women - Asia Pacific, was cited for "her work [that] has led to the passage of the anti-trafficking law that has provided much needed support for curbing human trafficking and assisting victims."

·  Therese Clarence Arellano Chua Fernandez, president of Rags2Riches, Inc., was cited for creativity in transforming waste materials into high-end designer lifestyle products: "In the process of providing a clear economic and environmental contribution to the country's development, she has been able to put to good use about 700 tons of scrap. This creativity has promoted a positive image of the Filipino's ingenuity in the international scene."

·  Regina Hechanova-Alampay, an organizational psychologist who has worked on the psychology of the Filipino worker, was awarded for "her research [that] provides the scientific bases for provisions and practices in the industrial and corporate settings that are culturally relevant and globally competitive."

·  Carmela Mortillero Lapitan, the first female urologic surgeon admitted as diplomate of the Philippine Board of Urology, a professor at the UP College of Medicine, among others, was recognized for "her work [that] offers treatment to millions of Filipino sufferers of urinary incontinence with quality care."

·  Stella Luz Alabastro-Quimbo, an economics professor at UP Diliman whose research contributed to the creation of the PhilHealth program, was recognized for "her research and publications [that] have provided empirical support for the policy pronouncements of President Noynoy Aquino on the need to achieve universal PhilHealth coverage as soon as possible."

·  Marissa Villafuerte Romero, a senior science research specialist and fellow at the Philippine Rice Research Institute of the Department of Agriculture, was awarded for "her work [that] has led to the improvement of rice quality and better processing of fruits and vegetables that will provide better nutrition for consumers."

·  Myla Cristina Crespo Villanueva, the chief executive officer of Novare Technologies and a pioneer in the Philippine information and communications technology industry, and president of the Global Telcom Women's Network.  The TOWNS award is for "her work [that] entails mentorship of young women telecom executives and developing professional linkages between women CEOs in a male-dominated industry." 

It's amusing to note that PNoy in this pose with the eleven awardees, he has not found an outstanding woman to serve as the nation's First Lady. 

As an end piece, we decided not to clip out the Manila Bulletin's item on Fil-Am judge Tani Cantil-Sakauye who was elected Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court during the US midterm elections on 02 November.  

Women of power indeed! 

Sources: 

1.   Immer öfter: Frauen an den Hebeln der Macht [Tr.: More and more often: Women on the Levers of Power]. (2010, November 05). Kleine Zeitung Online. Retrieved from http://www.kleinezeitung.at/nachrichten/politik/2545176/werden-immer-mehr.story  

2.   Sisante, Jam. (2010, November 05). Kara David, 10 others cited as outstanding women. GMANews.TV. Retrieved from http://www.gmanews.tv/story/205255/kara-david-10-others-cited-as-outstanding-women

Will Brazil elect Dilma Rousseff its president on halloween day?

Dilma, 57%; Serra, 43% (29 October). 

28 October.

Brazilians will go to the polls tomorrow, Sunday, to elect their next president who will assume office on January 1, 2011.  That's Halloween day for America and Europe or in countries like the Philippines where commerce has grafted an imported cultural practice alien to their All Soul's religious folk traditions.

Halloween may not be a big thing in Brazil like the year-long fascination with football especially now that they prepare for Copa 2016, and the frenzied celebrations of the annual Carnival in Rio and the Cirio in Belem.

Dilma, 49%, Serra, 38% (26 October).

20 October.

They take their party-ideology driven politics seriously.  The president of the country must have more than 50% of the popular votes cast, otherwise, they go through run-off elections for a candidate to achieve that majority.  President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva's full backing had Dilma Rousseff top the scoring among three candidates in the 03 October elections, but she failed to get the desired majority.

The run-off has her against the centrist candidate Jose Serra. She has maintained a significant lead throughout the campaign period as reflected by the several surveys done.  We love the way the front pages of Brazilian papers, spread out in this story, has been presenting the Dilma-Serra survey scores. 

If we go by those results, Dilma Rousseff has won the presidency and the polls tomorrow would just be the official validation of the informal selection.

In the debate, Dilma scored 48% and Serra 41%.

We thought that the Roman Catholic Church would keep its distance from this political affair. It's been reported that the bishops signed and circulated a letter urging voters to keep off Rousseff, who is fully backed by President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.

The Federal District judge barred the airing of a priest's sermon campaigning against Rousseff, a clear separation of religious and civilian functions.

It looks like the Vatican itself has asked the bishops to be vigilant on the issue of decriminalizing abortion, illegal except in the cases of rape or when a woman's life is at risk, which was hotly debated on by the two presidential contenders.

We will see how the bishops could sway voters away from Dilma.

Wondering if the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines are monitoring this political event in far away Brazil.

29 October.

 

Elections 101: Lessons from Brazil 2010

Our Brazilian interests were non-political--the classical guitar music of Heitor Villa-lobos, introduced to us by Joan Baez via her soprano rendition of his Bachianas Brasileiras (she trills in our mind every now and then), the bossa nova treats from Antonio Carlos Jobim, and the world-watched mighty Amazon river. 

Until Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva came along, and soon we were watching him preside over the Federative Republic of Brazil as president from 2002 until the end of this year, and in the process got to see them win the plums to host Copa Mundial 2014 and the Summer Olympics 2016.  Those two world games alone speak of the high Brazilian profile in the international scene, and a robust economic growth that spawned a social development program, which is believed to have largely benefited the country's poor.

On October 03, Brazil went to the polls to elect from among three contenders their next president:


Dilma Rousseff of the Workers Party (PT), Jose Serra of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB), and Marina Silva of the Green Party (PV).

Rousseff was a career civil servant, an economist.  She was Lula's energy minister before she became his chief of staff.   Lula called her the "mother of PAC," his flagship economic development program.  She was a student activist, and got imprisoned for three years because she was involved with the underground resistance to the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil in 1964-1985.

Serra lost to Lula in the run-off for the presidency in 2002. He's a big name in Brazil politics: he'd been mayor of the biggest city, and governor of the biggest and wealthiest state, both named Sao Paulo, became a senator, and was planning minister before Lula's tenure. He was head of the National Students' Union during the military coup in 1964; he went to exile in Chile and the United States, where he studied economics, and returned in 1977 when civilian government was restored. He was among the founders of his political party.

Silva was Lula's environment minister from January 2003 until she left government in May 2008. She worked with rainforest activist Chito Mendes, who was murdered in 1988.

Lula and the three contenders had interesting social backgrounds. Rousseff was from a middle-class family, her father a Bulgarian immigrant; Serra came from a poor family of Italian immigrants, and Silva, daughter of rubber-tappers, was illiterate until she was 14 years old.

Lula, as everybody now knows, came from a poor, illiterate peasant family, who learned to read when he was ten.  He became a metal worker in Sao Paulo, a trade union activist, headed the Metalworkers' Union in 1975, and spearheaded the founding of the Workers' Party in 1980, the first major left-wing socialist political party of Brazil.  He ran for the presidency four times before he won by landslide in 2002.

Rousseff was the favorite to win the presidency, and with Lula's support, she got 46.91% of the popular vote against Serra's 32.61% and Silva's 19.33%.

Brazilians will go back to the polls on 31 October for the run-off to finally chose between Rousseff and Serra who will take over the Planalto--the presidential office--from Lula on 01 January, 2011.  Constitutionally, the winner must garner at least 50% of the votes to become president.

This early, the prediction is that Rousseff will be the first female president of Brazil. She would be the seventh Latin American woman to be elected head of state after Violeta Chamorro (Nicaragua, 1990), Rosalia Arteaga Serrano (Ecuador, 1997), Mireya Moscoso (Panama, 1999), Michelle Bachelet (Chile, 2006), Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (Argentina, 2007), and Laura Chinchilla (Costa Rica, 2010).

The October 2010 election events in Brazil impart some important lessons for democratic states like the Philippines in the conduct of elections ---

1.  The election results were promptly known, may be because the process is not loaded with the election of officials of local government units; 

2.  There's very high confidence on their system and counting procedures; there were no problems that hassled first-time users of computerized systems;
3.   There's a very clear-cut ideological definition among the vying parties; the incumbent and the favorite-to-win political party is leftist and socialist;
4.   It appears that religious groups/sects there know the operational definition of 'separation of church and state', and candidates do not woo religious bloc votes;
5.   The incumbent won his tenure as president without question as to its legality or constitutionality; he knows he can not return for a third term, but he did agitate for changes in their charter nor run for state governor or senator just to remain in the circle of power.

Sources:

1.   "Profile: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva". (2010, January 28).  BBC News.  Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5346744.stm

2.   "Brazil election race". (2010, October 04).  BBC News Latin America & Carribean. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10461959