Former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (2011-2016) took over the presidency of the New Development Bank (NDB), the unit for the development and promotion of the Brics (the forum composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). She is the first woman to hold the position, and the appointment sees the former president, who was sacked in 2016 after a parliamentary coup, return to the executive branch gains unprecedented political prominence before the body that has become a funding alternative for emerging markets. “Her Excellency Dilma Rousseff, the recently elected President of the NDB, began her first day in office at the bank’s headquarters in Shanghai, China,” the company reported on its social media.
The well-known Bank of the Brics is based in the Asian giant’s financial hub, where it will reside until the end of her term in July 2025, which has not held any public or private office since her dismissal as part of an irregular impeachment trial in which she has been accused of mismanaging the national public finances – through so-called “fiscal pedaling”, an operation which virtually all presidents of the democracy have carried out. This situation led to one of the worst political crises in Brazilian history and brought its vice-president, Michel Temer, to power; and paved the way for the arrival of Jair Bolsonaro as political leader.
Rousseff is an economist and energy specialistwas Minister of Mines and Energy And chief of staff during the first two terms of office of the current Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in his first two terms (2003-2010). In 2013, as president, she became one of the founders of the NDB and now had the support of all countries to replace Bolsonaro Marcos Troyjo, who had moved to Rio de Janeiro with a salary of almost $50,000 in the last month.
Last Friday was Brazil’s first female president appointed unanimously in the position of Board of Governors of NBD, a bank dedicated to financing infrastructure in the Brics countries and its partners. Lula’s decision was based, among other things, on the fact that the former president has dedicated herself to researching development in emerging countries in recent years.
The former President of the Workers’ Party (PT) studied socialism with Chinese characteristics and attended various events on the subject. Rousseff was supposed to be part of the Brazilian entourage set to travel with Lula on the official visit this week, but she ended up doing it alone after the president canceled the tour because of pneumonia.
His arrival, meanwhile, is no minor matter for Argentina: A few weeks ago, President Alberto Fernández officially asked his Chinese counterpart to join the BRICS, responsible for the pro tempore presidency. The application for membership coincided with a moment when the organization is trying to move out of a more flexible scheme to a higher level of institutionality. This scenario leaves the motion that Alberto made with some doubts about the time the process will take and possible standards that can be achieved or maintained once he is a member.
With information from Telam