Former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff during the first session of the Sao Paulo Forum.

Photo: Irene Pérez/ Cubadebate.

Former Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff was unanimously elected this Friday as the new president of the New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS group, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the entity said in a statement. .

Rousseff, who was nominated by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was elected by vote in the entity's Council of Governors, made up of the finance ministers of the member countries.

Currently, the Brazilian economist Marcos Troyjo is the president of the bank, an institution that was born in 2015 with the objective of financing important infrastructure projects in developing economies.

On March 23, 2023, the Board of Governors of the NDB unanimously elected HE Mrs. Dilma Vana Rousseff as the President of the Bank, effective immediately, in full accordance with the Articles of Agreement of the NDB and the procedures of the President election.

pic.twitter.com/6ECg3pB8UH

— New Development Bank (@NDB_int) March 24, 2023

The inauguration of Rousseff, 75, is scheduled for next week, coinciding with Lula's visit to China.

To carry out her functions, the former president must live in Shanghai.

Rousseff, who was Minister of Mines and Energy and head of the Civil House in the previous governments (2003-2010) of Lula, was elected president in 2010 and re-elected in 2014.

However, two years later she was overthrown in an impeachment process and replaced by the then vice president, the conservative Michel Temer.

"Economic stability"

In its statement, the NDB recalls that as president, Rousseff focused her agenda on guaranteeing the country's economic stability and job creation.

In addition, during his government, the fight against poverty was prioritized and social programs initiated under Lula's mandate were expanded and internationally recognized.

"As a result of one of the most extensive poverty reduction processes in the country's history, Brazil was removed from the UN hunger map," the text reads.

He also adds that under his administration, "Brazil was present in all international forums on climate and environmental protection, culminating in a decisive participation in the achievement of the Paris Agreement."

An economist by training, Rousseff was part of clandestine leftist organizations during the Brazilian military dictatorship (1964-1985), was imprisoned and was tortured.

(Taken from RT)