One of the greatest fears for President Dilma Rousseff’s re-election team is a repeat of the 2001 and 2002 national energy crisis, which cost the country an estimated R$45bn (US$18.6bn at the present exchange rate) and shaved three percentage points off GDP. As Rousseff was previously the minister for mines and energy, any problems with Brazil’s power supply are likely to prompt damaging headlines. As such, the blackouts experienced by 11 states on 4 February, have sent jitters through the government, who were desperate to claim the failure was a result of a technical fault. End of preview - This article contains approximately 743 words.
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