Dilma Rousseff - Political Positions

Political Positions

Although Rousseff states that her political thinking has evolved drastically – from Marxism to pragmatic capitalism — she remains proud of her radical roots.

Rousseff is pro-life, supporting abortion only for pregnancies which endangers the life of the mother or are the result of rape, cases in which the current Brazilian legislation allows women to terminate their pregnancies. Her present pro-life views have been criticized by sectors of the Roman Catholic Church in Brazil and other religious groups, due to her past support for the legalization of abortion. It was also a main target of criticism by José Serra's campaign as well as conservative newsmagazine Veja, which emphasized Rousseff's past and current positions on its cover.

When asked about the criminal prosecution against Flamengo goalkeeper Bruno Fernandes de Souza, accused of killing his former girlfriend Eliza Samudio, Rousseff said that she opposes the death penalty. According to her, "if it was effective, there would not be such crimes in the United States."

Rousseff opposes gay marriage, but supports same-sex civil union. She said that "marriage is a religious issue. I, as an individual, would never say what a religion should do or not. We have to respect them." About same-sex civil union, Rousseff said that "basic civil rights should be recognized in a civil manner." She also opposes the legalization of illegal drugs, stating that "Brazil today is unable to propose the decriminalization of any drug."

As a member of the Workers' Party, a social-democratic party which opposes Third Way politics, Rousseff was expected to be against privatization and neoliberalism. The Nation, as an example of this thought, described Rousseff's victory as a defeat for the Washington Consensus. Rousseff, however, has an ambiguous position on issues that involve privatization. She is, for instance, "favorable to grant to private enterprise the construction of new power plants and roads, when it is cheaper to do them through grants than through public works." Additionally, she favored the privatization of airports in order to prepare Brazil's infra-structure for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

She also pledged to deepen the social welfare network inaugurated by the Lula administration, saying that, under her rule, "Brazil will continue to grow, with social inclusion and mobility."