Dilma Rousseff

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Dilma Vana Rousseff

Chief of Staff of Brazil
Incumbent
Assumed office 2005
Preceded by	José Dirceu

Born	14 December 1947 Belo Horizonte
Residence	Brasília, Brazil
Profession	Economist, politician

Dilma Rousseff is a Brazilian politician. She is an economist with a D.Sc. in Economic Theory from State University of Campinas. She was appointed Energy Minister by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in his first cabinet in 2003. On June 21, 2005 she was appointed Minister Chief of Staff. In addition, she is the chairman of the board of directors of the Brazilian oil company Petrobras.^[1]

[edit] Guerrilla involvement

Rousseff joined the left-wing revolutionary guerrilla group called "Colina" that intended to establish a comunist regime in Brazil. In the guerrilla, she used the pseudonym "Estela". She participated in several illegal activities, but the most famous are the robbery of US$2.5 million from the entrepreneur and politician Ademar de Barros and the robbery (with deaths) of weapons from the Brazilian Armed Forces. She was convicted guilty and sent to jail under torture from 1970 to 1973 during the Military government.

[edit] Political career

As a member of the left-wing Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) or Workers Party she served as Rio Grande do Sul state Secretary of Energy 1991-1994. Rousseff entered Lula's government in early 2003 as Minister of Energy. In June 21, 2005 she became Chief of Staff, replacing José Dirceu, who resigned after corruption accusations.

Rousseff has emerged as the possible PT nominee for the Presidency in 2010.