Dilma Rousseff is a Badass

Democracy Now!

As we continue to look at the political crisis in Brazil, we turn now to Brazil’s ousted president, Dilma Rousseff, who was impeached last year in what many describe as a coup. Her removal ended nearly 14 years of rule by the left-leaning Workers’ Party, which had been credited with lifting millions of Brazilians out of poverty.

Rousseff is a former political prisoner who took part in the underground resistance to the U.S.-backed Brazilian dictatorship in the '60s. She was jailed from 1970 to 1972, during which time she was repeatedly tortured. Dilma Rousseff would later become a key figure in the Workers' Party under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. She was elected president in 2010, re-elected in 2014.

The interview is well worth a listen (or read), especially her account of being tortured.