President Dilma Rousseff’s Northeast Visit
On February 8 and 9, President Dilma Rousseff visited the northeastern states of Pernambuco and Ceará to inspect two of the region’s largest infrastructure projects: the transposition of the São Francisco River, and the Transnordestina Railway. The transposition project will create canals to bring water to 390 cities in the northeast, a region prone to drought. The railway will connect Brazil’s interior farmland to two key ports in Ceará and Pernambuco. Both projects, considered strategic for the federal government, suffered delays after contracting disputes and cost overruns. But Rousseff made it clear that under her watch, construction would move forward. The visit revealed that Rousseff’s administration still sees the northeast as a critical center of national development, and that Rousseff herself—a technocrat known for her attention to detail—will keep a watchful eye on infrastructure projects there to ensure they are completed in a timely manner.
During her visit to transposition sites in Pernambuco, Rousseff said the project was a top priority and that she would hold both government officials and private sector actors accountable. “From now on, I plan to systematically look at the deadlines in full detail,” she said. She also underscored the importance of government funding. “For Brazil, public investment is important. We are going to get public investment off the paper. From here on out there is no justification that these investments shouldn’t be made.”
During inspections of the Transnordestina, the president discussed the railway’s importance to Brazil’s port infrastructure. “We want to guarantee that Brazil’s interior is connected to ports. This means a greater capacity to commercialize production and to exploit the region’s potential.” Rousseff also discussed how infrastructure projects have a direct impact on the region’s economy, creating jobs and greater demand for trade.
Learn more:
- Watch an interview with Rousseff during her visit to the transposition project in Pernambuco.
- See photos from the visit from the Blog do Planalto’s Flickr stream.
- Read about Rousseff’s northeast visit from O Globo.
Rachel Glickhouse is the editorial associate at AS/COA Online.