Brazil elects first female president

A former Marxist guerrilla who was tortured and imprisoned during Brazil's long dictatorship has been elected as the first female president of Latin America's biggest nation.

A statement from the Supreme Electoral Court, which oversees elections, said governing party candidate Dilma Rousseff won the election.

With 99 per cent of the ballots counted, Rousseff had 55.6 per cent of the vote compared to just under 44.4 per cent for rival, Jose Serra.

Within 20 minutes of Rousseff's victory being announced, her supporters began streaming onto a main avenue in Sao Paulo, where eight years ago a huge gathering celebrated President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's win, the first time the Workers Party took the presidency.

In a 25-minute victory speech to jubilant supporters in Brasilia, Rousseff said that her first promise was to "honour the women" of Brazil.

"It's beyond me, it is a proof on how advanced our democracy has become because for the first time ever a woman will lead in Brazil," Rousseff said.

Known for her tough and serious demeanour, Rousseff only betrayed emotion when she spoke about outgoing President Silva, Brazil's hugely popular leader the last eight years who chose her as his party's candidate to succeed him and used all his political will to get her elected.

"I know that a leader like Lula will never be away from his people," she said.

President Silva, who was barred by the constitution from running for a third consecutive four-year term, has batted down rumours in the press that he is setting himself up for a new run at the presidency in 2014.

Beginning January 1, Rousseff will lead a nation on the rise, a country that will host the 2014 World Cup and that is expected to be the globe's fifth-largest economy by the time it hosts the 2016 Summer Olympics. It has also recently discovered huge oil reserves off its coast.