Brazil's Rousseff launches presidency page on Facebook

Already boasting more than two million followers of her Twitter account, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Wednesday inaugurated a page of her presidential palace on Facebook. "Hi, I invite you to join the page of the Planalto palace -- the Brazilian presidency -- on Facebook, " she said in a video posted on the new site. "Like our page, comment, participate," the president urged, referring to https://www.facebook.com/PalacioDoPlanalto. Reactions was mixed. "Is it modern absolutism?," Soraya Orsoni wrote on the page. "Congratulations for the initiative. An open dialogue is a necessity in every democratic nation," said Joao Garcia. And Juvenal Pedroso Neto used the occasion to warn of new street protests during next year's World Cup. "President, the World Cup is coming, and taxes have not been cut nor have impunity and corruption been reduced and the people are fed up with this Cup and the (Rio summer) Olympics," he said. Rousseff activated her Twitter account @dilmabr after last June's massive, nationwide street protests, which were coordinated via social media, to demand a better quality of life. Presidential spokesman Thomas Traumann said Twitter would continue to be Rousseff's main direct and more political vehicle to communicate while the Facebook page will be more "institutional." One key objective of the Facebook page is to highlight the government's progress in fulfilling its pledge to improve education, health and public transport, key demands made during the June protests. Rousseff's popularity plummeted in the wake of the massive demonstrations but has since recovered and she is favored to win re-election next October.