In a historic New Year’s Day ceremony attended by foreign dignitaries including Hillary Clinton, Brazil swore in its first female president, Dilma Rousseff. Rousseff is an unconventional leader, a former Marxist guerrilla who has never before held elected office but who is a close ally of the country’s hugely popular outgoing president, Inacio Lula da Silva. Rousseff inherits a rapidly growing economy but nonetheless faces major challenges in maintaining progress. In the coming years, Rousseff must also prepare her nation to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games.
