Photo: El País.

Havana, March 24 (RHC)-- Former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was unanimously elected Friday as the new president of the New Development Bank of the BRICS group, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

Rousseff, who was nominated by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was elected by a vote of the entity's Board of Governors, formed by the finance ministers of the member countries.

Currently, Brazilian economist Marcos Troyjo is the president of the bank. The institution was born in 2015 to finance important infrastructure projects in developing economies.

The inauguration of Rousseff, 75, is scheduled for next week, coinciding with Lula's visit to China. To carry out her duties, the former president will have to live in Shanghai.

Rousseff, who was Minister of Mines and Energy and head of the Civil House in Lula's previous governments (2003-2010), was elected president in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. However, two years later she was ousted in an 'impeachment' process and replaced by the then vice-president, the conservative Michel Temer.

In its statement, the New Development Bank recalls that as president, Rousseff focused her agenda on ensuring the country's economic stability and job creation.

In addition, during her administration, the fight against poverty was prioritized and social programs initiated under Lula's term were expanded and internationally recognized.

"As a result of one of the most extensive processes of poverty reduction in the country's history, Brazil was eliminated from the UN hunger map," the text reads.

It also adds that under her administration, "Brazil was present in all international forums on climate and environmental protection, culminating in a decisive participation in the achievement of the Paris Agreement."

An economist by training, Rousseff was part of clandestine leftist organizations during the Brazilian military dictatorship (1964-1985) and was imprisoned and tortured. (Source: Cubadebate).