AN INTERVIEW WITH DILMA ROUSSEFF, BRAZIL'S PRESIDENT-ELECT

By Lally Weymouth (The Washington Post)

Friday, December 3, 2010

IN BRASILIA

Four weeks ago, Brazilians elected their first female president – Dilma Rousseff, the chosen candidate of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s popular outgoing president. Rousseff comes to power with an unusual background: she fought in the 1960s underground against the military regime that then ruled Brazil, and she was imprisoned and tortured between 1970 and 1972. She then started in local politics and joined Lula’s government in 2002 as minister of mines and energy, eventually becoming his chief of staff. On dec. 2, in her first lengthy interview since the vote, Rousseff spoke about her plans for the next four years. Excerts:

Vocabulary:
Outgoing president: presidente em fim de mandato, de partida.
Lengthy interview: entrevista longa (mais prolongada)

Does having been a political prisoner give you more sympathy for other political prisoners?

There is no question about that. Due to the fact that I experienced personally the situation of a political prisoner, I have an historical commitment to all those that were or are prisoners just because they expressed their views, their public opinion, their own opinions.

Commitment: compromisso, comprometimento, obrigação.

So, will that affect your policy toward Iran, for example? Why is Brazil supporting a country that allows people to be stoned, that jails journalists?

I believe that it is necessary for us to make a differentiation in [what we mean when we refer to Iran]. I consider [important] the strategy of building peace in the Middle East. What we see in the Middle East is the bankruptcy of a policy – of a war policy. We are talking about Afghanistan and the disaster that was the invasion of Iraq. We did not manage to solve Iraq’s problems. Iraq today is in civil war. Every day soldiers on both sides die. To try to build peace and not to go to war is the best way.

[But] I do not endorse stoning. I do not agree with practices that have medieval characteristics [when it comes] to women. There is no nuance; I will not make any concessions on that matter.

Bankruptcy: falência, bancarrota.

Brazil abstained from voting on the recent U.N. human rights resolution.

I am not the president of Brazil [today], but I would feel unconmfortable as a woman president-elect not to say anything against the stoning. My position will not change when I take office. I do not agree with the way Brazil voted. It's not my position.

Many Americans had sympathy for the Iranian people who rose up in the streets. That's why I wondered if your position on Iran would be any different than that of your current president, who has good relations with the Iranian regime.

President Lula has his own track record. He is a president that advocated for human rights, a president that always advocated for building peace.

Track: trilha, caminho

How do you view Brazil's relationship with the United States? How would you like to see it evolve?

Evolve: desenvolver (-se)

I consider the relationship with the U.S. very important to Brazil. I will try to forge closer ties with the U.S. I had great admiration for the election of President Obama. I believe that the U.S. at that moment showed tremendous capacity to show that it is a great nation, and it surprised the world. It may be very difficult to be able to elect a black president in the U.S. - as it was very difficult to elect a woman president in Brazil.

Forge closer ties: forjar (formar) laços firmes

I believe that the U.S. has a great contribution to give to the world. And above all, I believe that Brazil and the U.S. have to play a role together in the world. For example, we have great potential to work together in Africa, because in Africa we can build a partnership to make available agricultural technologies, biofuel production, humanitarian aid in all fields.

I also believe, in this moment of great instability due to the global crisis, it is fundamental that we should find ways that will guarantee the recovery of the developed counstries' economies because that is fundamental to the stability of the world. None of us in Brazil will be comfortable if the U.S. carries high rates of unemployment. The recovery of the U.S. is important for Brazil because the U.S. has an extraordinary consumer market. Today, the highest trade surplus of the U.S. is with Brazil.

(texto que vamos debater em aula de inglês. Como vou faltar, já estou lendo e vendo vocabulário)