The swearing-in on Tuesday of Dilma Rousseff as chief of staff to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil's president, came as part of an expected cabinet reshuffle designed to help rebuild a coalition heavily damaged by recent corruption allegations.

Ms Rousseff, 57, was to move from the energy ministry to take on the key post as policy and project coordinator in the presidential palace. Known as an able manager and trained as an economist, she is to help launch several key government initiatives.