March 22, 2010	12:36 PM CDT By W. T. Whitney Jr.
At its national congress in February, the Workers' Party acclaimed President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's endorsement of Dilma Rousseff as the Party's presidential candidate for elections in October. Party leader José Eduardo Dutra told 1300 delegates that Rousseff is "deeply and absolutely committed [to} the continuity of the policies of Lula," who presently enjoys 75-80 percent public approval ratings. He is constitutionally limited to two terms.
As the 1970's dawned, Rousseff, of upper middle class origins, had joined Marxist oriented armed struggle against Brazil's U.S. supported dictatorship. She suffered imprisonment and torture.
A year ago, Rousseff underwent treatment for lymphoma. Known as a workaholic, she has concentrated on technical aspects of energy and economics policies.
Rouseff's likely opponent on the right will be the José Serra, the current governor of São Paulo state. The U.S. educated Serra gained prominence as Minister of Planning and as Minister of Health during the presidency of neo-liberal partisan Fernando Cardoso. The candidacy of Maria Silva for the Green Party is expected to take 10 percent of leftist voters away from the Workers' Party. The former rubber tapper, militant environmental activist, and senator resigned as Lula's environmental minister in opposition to his government's support for hydroelectric dams, biofuels, and genetically modified crops.
Rousseff's future on the world stage is unclear. Already, according to Uruguayan analyst Raul Zibechi, "Brazil is now a big league player." Three Brazilian banks are among the world's ten largest. The country's oil and uranium reserves are huge. It boasts giant multi-national corporations.
Zibechi thinks the threat of Brazil is forcing the United States "to redesign its foreign policy," specifically by provoking conflicts on Brazil's borders – and China's too – so as to distract and to divert from upward trajectories. President Lula da Silva has schooled the people's movement in Brazil, the Workers' Party at its head, and perhaps Dilma Rousseff, in how to respond.
It's a response with the "Brazilian smile," says Ecuadorian analyst Guillaume Long. Visiting Brazil recently, Secretary of State Clinton got the smile and three negatives. No, Brazil would not discourage Iran from developing nuclear power, would not help return Honduras to the Organization of the American States, and would not take on supervision over Venezuela.