Brazil's President Re-Elected In Tight Race

By Karine Mayer, South America News Editor

In one of the tightest races for the presidency in Brazil in the last 30 years incumbent President Dilma Rousseff won a second term in office by a margin of just over 3% of the total votes.

As many as 143 million Brazilians, aged between 18 and 70, in the world's seventh-largest economy went to the polls to choose between leftist Dilma Rousseff and Social Democrat Aecio Neves.

Her win gives the Workers' Party its fourth straight presidential victory.

She said in her victory speech: "The country is not divided… it is searching for a better future."

Looking at the political map it seemed that her challenger Mr Neves won mainly in the rich south, and she won in the poorer north which benefits from her social reforms.

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Gallery: All Votes Count In The Final Round Of Brazil's Presidential Elections

Nearly 143 million people are expected to go to the polls in Brazil's presidential election run-off.
Voters will choose between incumbent Dilma Rousseff of the Workers Party and Social Democratic Party rival Aecio Neves.
Both parties have been accused of corruption.
Fariza, an estate agent, chose Aecio, "Brazil is a young country and needs someone young who inspires hope." Her mother added "it's time to end this monopoly and bring some change."
Helena, a pensioner told Sky News "it's with great joy that I vote and press the green button to cast my vote for change."
Roberto a lawyer in Rio, said "we need change. That's why I am supporting him" (pointing to the Aecio sticker on his shirt).
Joana, a statistician "I am proud to support a government who have done so much socially for this country. Tackling the class differences, and narrowing the gap between rich and poor. I want someone who is going to continue doing this."
Marina de Oliveira Baptista , physiotherapist "Brazil has been riding the wave of the success of the former government for the last twelve years. Dilma is only a puppet."
Saul Estrela de Oliveira, a 79 year-old retired doctor, whose shirt was covered in Dilma stickers said with a big smile "why change a winning team? You know I wasn't a supporter of the Worker's Party but they're doing such a good job that I'm now a fan!"
"You have to be proud of your choice!" Swipe through to see the rest of the images

In her speech, she promised to focus on the economy and to work on fighting inflation which has been creeping back as the Brazilian economy has slowed down for the first time in a decade.

The economy had been the focus of Mr Neves, who had managed to turn around from broke to zero deficit during his time as governor.

Ms Rousseff said she was open to dialogue, leaving a glimmer of hope for her critics who think she may not be able to turn around the economy.

Amid her victory promises she said: "The first and most important reform is the political reform." She was alluding to the corruption scandal of state-owned oil company Petrobras which added to her rollercoaster ride with voter support.

Her popular social programmes include the family allowance "bolsa familia", which helps over 40 million Brazilians out of poverty, and "minha casa, minha vida" (my house, my life), which has helped over 3 million low income families purchase their home.

But public spend to fund these is out of control, and the country is in technical recession.

And yet Brazil still has one of the biggest rich-poor income divides in the world. And this will be a tough obstacle for Ms Rousseff as she tries to put the country's economy back on track and lure back foreign investors.

The reality of a fragmented congress also means that Ms Rousseff will be forced to further dilute her agenda in order to build alliances.

But 51.6% of Brazilians voted for Ms Rousseff. As Saul Estrela de Oliveira, a 79 year-old retired doctor, told Sky News: "Why would you want to change a winning team?"

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