Dilma Rousseff candidacy. Rousseff won the Presidency by an approximate margin of 56% to 44%, and took office on 1 January 2011, as the first woman president of the country. She became the third female head of government ever in the history of Brazil, and the first "de jure" female head of state since the death of Maria I, Queen of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves in 1816. During her presidential campaign, Rousseff underwent a makeover, replacing glasses with contact lenses, undergoing plastic surgery and adopting a different hairstyle. On 26 October 2014, Rousseff was re-elected president of
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