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Brazil's new president starts work, meets leaders
AFP - 1 hour 18 minutes ago
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BRASILIA (AFP) - – Brazil's new president, Dilma Rousseff, started her first full day in office Sunday with a series of short meetings with world leaders, according to her aides.
Rousseff, who on Saturday took over from her mentor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was meeting the leaders of Uruguay, South Korea, Portugal, the Palestinian Authority, Cuba and Japan.
She started the bilateral meetings with a face-to-face with Spain's crown Prince Felipe de Asturias after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez reportedly canceled the meeting and flew back to Caracas.
The leaders were among dignitaries who attended Rousseff's inauguration Saturday, which took place in Brazil's futuristic capital under rainy skies. Scene: Rain, cheers and tears as Rousseff succeeds Lula
The event was a carefully staged endorsement of continuity, with Rousseff, 63, vowing to maintain Lula's policies that have turned Brazil into an economic and diplomatic power to be reckoned with.
She wiped away tears as she gave her first national address as president in which she described the "emotion" at seeing her predecessor go.
"But Lula will be with us. I know that the distance of this position won't mean anything to a man of such greatness and generosity," she said.
Required to step down after serving the maximum two consecutive terms permitted under Brazil's constitution despite leaving with an 87 percent popularity rating, Lula, 65, has not said what he plans to do in retirement.
But he commented weeks ago that he was a "natural born politician" who would not rule out maybe trying to return to the presidency after Rousseff's four-year mandate was over, depending on the performance of the woman he helped get elected.
Lula flew to his home outside Sao Paulo late Saturday after the ceremony. There, he told hundreds of well-wishers: "I have returned home with my head held high. And with the feeling of having succeeded."
Rousseff has pledged to uphold Lula's legacy, saying "I will look after the most vulnerable. I will govern for all Brazilians." Facts: Brazil's first female president in good company
She outlined plans for tax reforms, environmental protection, improved health services, regional development -- and unspecified measures to combat foreign "speculation" that could upset Brazil's economic growth.
Lula has left her an economy that appears to be in good health.
Brazil's economy grew an enviable 7.6 percent in 2010, it enjoys recently discovered oil finds that could make it a big-league exporter, it has won a significant role on the world stage, and it is preparing to host the 2014 football World Cup and 2016 Olympics.
But there are clouds on the horizon.
Growth is expected to slide to 4.5 percent in 2011, inflation is well above the government target at an estimated 5.9 percent and rising, and an aim to cut public debt from 42 percent to 30 percent is likely to meet resistance, not least because Brazil desperately needs more and better infrastructure.
Brazil's currency, the real, has more than doubled in value against the dollar during Lula's eight years in power, and looks set to rise further, undermining the competitiveness of Brazilian exporters.
Brazil is also mired in a diplomatic row with Italy over Lula's decision -- on his last day in power -- to refuse to extradite an Italian former militant, Cesare Battisti, convicted of four murders in the 1970s.
A furious Rome had ordered its ambassador home in protest. The envoy delivered a note to Rousseff Saturday. He was to fly out on Sunday.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told the Corriere della Sera newspaper that his government was looking at taking the Battisti case to the International Court of Justice in The Hague if an appeal to Brazil's Supreme Court fails. Related article: Italy mulls legal action over row with Brazil
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