Rousseff takes office for another four-year term

President Dilma Rousseff took office today (Jan 1st) for a second four-year term. Re-elected in October with 54.5 million votes, she will rule the country until 2018. Vice-President Michel Temer was also re-elected and also took office at the ceremony.

Born in Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerais, Rousseff, age 67, has a daughter and a grandson. Under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, her predecessor, she held office as the Minister of Mines and Energy and subsequently as the Chief of Staff. In 2010, she was elected in the election runoffs, with about 55.7 million votes. In her first administration, the president maintained and expanded her predecessor's social programs. The most important policies in her agenda include the More Doctors Program (Mais Médicos), a large effort to hire doctors from Brazil and abroad to work in remote, underserved areas, the National Technical Education and Employment Program (PRONATEC), and Brazil without Poverty (Brasil sem Pobreza), an expanded version of the Bolsa Família conditional cash transfer program.

The re-elected president begins the new government with mainly economic challenges including the mission of containing inflation and trying to revive the pace of economic growth. Moreover, her new term begins amid a crisis at the country's largest state-owned company, Petrobras – which is facing a wide probe over corruption allegations.

All existing 39 ministries will be maintained by Rousseff for her second administration. The cabinet reshuffle resulted in fifteen ministers retaining their existing posts, four of them switching ministries, and 20 new appointed cabinet members as of 2015. The reshuffle was rolled out progressively and the ministers are political allies, plus her quota of personal choices among trusted advisers.

The new cabinet will be inaugurated today at the Main Hall of the Presidential Palace as part of Rousseff inaugurals.

Translated by Mayra Borges