Sao Paulo: From three years in a dictatorship's jail cell to just two months away from the presidential palace, the journey has been long for Brazil's newly elected leader Dilma Rousseff, who will be the first woman to direct Latin America's biggest nation.

She is a career civil servant who has never held elected office, but Rousseff easily won Sunday's presidential run-off election. That was thanks to the wholehearted backing of outgoing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who for decades has been a presence on Brazil's political scene and will leave office as its most popular leader.

Now, the difficult part begins. Rousseff must make good on her campaign promises to continue Silva's programmes that have led Brazil to new international economic and political heights. She acknowledged the challenge in her victory speech late on Sunday after overcoming centrist rival Jose Serra by winning 56 per cent of the vote against his 44 per cent.

"It's a challenging and difficult task to succeed him, but I will know how to honour his legacy," she said of Silva. "I will know how to advance and consolidate his work."

This is exactly what her supporters and most of the base of the governing Workers Party expect.

"Now we are certain that the country will continue in the right direction," 26-year-old teacher Hobert dos Santos said while waving Rousseff campaign flags at a celebration on a main avenue in Sao Paulo. "Dilma will be able to continue working for the people, to continue improving many of the things that Lula started and didn't have time to finish."

Skilled manager

A former Marxist guerrilla who was jailed and tortured for three years in the early 1970s for fighting against Brazil's dictatorship, Rousseff is known as a demanding and skilled manager. She first served as Silva's energy minister and from 2005 until earlier this year was his chief of staff, running the day-to-day operations of the administration.

Despite her tough exterior, she betrayed emotion when speaking about Silva after the election results were announced.

"The joy I feel with this victory today is mixed with the emotion of his farewell. I know that a leader like Lula will never be away from his people," she said, her eyes welling with tears and voice cracking.

"I will always be able to knock on his door and I'm sure that it will always will be open."