IT WAS hardly a ringing endorsement. After a dirty and divisive campaign, Dilma Rousseff won a second term in Brazil’s presidential election on October 26th by just three percentage points against her centre-right opponent, Aécio Neves (see article). That is by far the narrowest margin in Brazil’s modern electoral history.If her second term is not to be an even bigger disappointment than her first, Ms Rousseff needs to take heed not just of her supporters but also of those who did not vote for her. They include much of the middle-class, who in 2013 took to the streets in mass protests to demand better public services and less corruption. Mr Neves won easily in much of Brazil’s south-east and south, the country’s economic powerhouse.Ms Rousseff’s victory is not what this newspaper hoped for—we backed Mr Neves—yet it is no great surprise. Brazil remains a country of searing inequality, and poorer voters are grateful to the ruling Workers’ Party (PT) for the improvement in living standards and opportunities...
from The Economist: Leaders http://ift.tt/1vklyE6
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