First female president for Brazil

Dilma Rousseff was sworn in as Brazil’s first female president today, capping a rapid political trajectory for the career technocrat and former Marxist rebel who was imprisoned and tortured during the nation’s long military dictatorship.

The 63-year-old takes the helm of Latin America’s largest nation, which has risen both financially and politically on the world stage under outgoing leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.