DILMA ROUSSEFF celebrated victory yesterday after she was elected Brazil's first female president and vowed to uphold the legacy of her predecessor and mentor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Rousseff convincingly won her first election Sunday as Brazilians put aside doubts over her character and voted for continued economic success.
The career civil servant must now form her transition team and Cabinet as she emerges from the long shadow of Lula and prepares to govern the South American powerhouse as it faces challenges to its prosperity, including a painfully strong currency that is punishing exporters.
In a sign of the changing of the guard, Lula laid low after Rousseff's victory Sunday, leaving her to bask in the moment she became the first woman elected to lead Brazil.
Rousseff, 62, paid homage to Lula in her victory speech, pledging to extend what she called a "new era of prosperity." She also set down twin goals for her rule - eradicating poverty while maintaining Brazil's hard-won economic stability.
"We cannot rest while there are Brazilians who are hungry, while there are families living on the street, while poor children are abandoned to their fate," the former leftist militant told cheering supporters in the capital Brasilia.
Rousseff, who will be sworn in Jan. 1, easily won Sunday's runoff election with 56 percent of the vote. Her rival, Jose Serra of the centrist PSDB party, took 44 percent.
