She said many of today's leaders in Latin America, like President "Lula" da Silva of Brazil or President Evo Morales of Bolivia, could never have been elected in previous decades.
VOA: standard.2009.04.18
As her reputation grew, Rousseff landed state-level positions as Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of Energy before serving as chief of staff for President Lula da Silva, whom she succeeded.
As the first female Chief of Staff under reformist President Lula da Silva, appointed in 2005, she was widely expected to be his successor to continue the Workers Party's economic policies set in motion during his term.
Her career took off while she was in former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's PT Worker's Party, who appointed her as environment minister in 2003.