Mon Nov 1

BRASILIA (AFP) - Dilma Rousseff, elected Brazil's first female president, started to map out plans Monday to govern for the next four years, in the shadow of her predecessor and mentor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Rousseff beat opposition rival Jose Serra, the former governor of Sao Paulo state, in Sunday's runoff to succeed Lula. She won 56 percent of the votes to Serra's 44 percent.
That victory was due almost entirely to Lula, who campaigned tirelessly to put Rousseff in his seat.
Despite popularity ratings over 80 percent, Lula was barred by law from seeking a third consecutive mandate.
He hands over power to Rousseff, a 62-year-old economist and longtime civil servant who served as his cabinet chief, in two months' time, on January 1.
Foreign leaders congratulated Rousseff on her election triumph.
US President Barack Obama called it a "historic victory" and said he hoped to deepen "the excellent working relationship between the United States and Brazil."
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country has sold billions of dollars in defense hardware to Brazil, said he intended to pursue "the strategic partnership that binds our two countries."
At the same time, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- a US foe -- said he was certain Rousseff's election would boost "eye-catching progress" between Tehran and Brasilia started under Lula.
And Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hailed Rousseff's win as a "guarantee" of South American integration he sees as a bulwark against US influence.
By voting for her, Brazilian voters trusted Rousseff's pledges to extend the impressive prosperity built up under Lula's eight years in power that has turned their country into the world's eighth biggest economy.
"The population voted for the continuity of this government," Finance Minister Guido Mantega told AFP.
Roussefftook up Lula's cry against an "international currency war" by China, the United States and other leading economies seeking to devalue their monies to boost exports at the expense of other nations.
Brazil's incoming and outgoing leaders will travel together to a G20 summit in South Korea this month to argue for greater global control of finances.
In her victory speech late Sunday, she acknowledged that succeeding Lula "is difficult and challenging."
But she expressed confidence she would be able to do so -- with his help.
"I will knock on his door often, and I know it will always be open," she said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101101/ts_afp/brazilvote_20101101194741