Dilma Rousseff a state visit as well as for an emotional back-to-the-roots visit to the homeland of her late emigrant father. She paid a visit to the grave of her Bulgarian half-brother, Lyuben-Kamen Rusev, whom she never met and who died in 2007 at the age of 78. Dilma Rousseff was inaugurated as President of Brazil on 1 January 2011. The event – which was organized by her transitional team, the Ministries of External Relations and Defense and the Presidency of the Republic – was awaited with some expectation, since she became the first woman ever to preside over the country. Important
Bulgarians in South America is President Dilma Rousseff from the Workers' Party. Her father Pétar was born in Gabrovo and, as an active member of the Bulgarian Communist Party in the 1920s, had to flee from Bulgaria in 1929 due to political persecution. Rousseff's wide margin over her rivals sparked a "Dilma fever" in Bulgaria. Although she does not speak Bulgarian she said in an interview that she does feel like a Bulgarian to a certain extent. During her state visit to Bulgaria, on October 5, 2011, Rousseff was awarded Bulgaria’s highest state honour, the Order of Stara Planina. A notable Bulgarian diaspora also