After the death of her husband in December 1999, Dulce began to face financial difficulties. In March 2001, she organized an auction to sell items her late husband had received while he ruled the country and received criticism from the press. Among the 218 objects auctioned were a bronze cowboy sculpture by Ronald Reagan; two paintings by Di Cavalcanti; a Portuguese statue of Roque de Montpellier presented by Antonio Carlos Magalhães; an inkwell brought by King Juan Carlos of Spain; a silver tray offered by Augusto Pinochet; and a box of cigars given by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. About one million reais were collected, and approximately 82% of this amount went to Dulce Figueiredo, who, as a general's widow, received a pension of 8,865 reais.
A widow since 1999, she died June 6, 2011, at a clinic in Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro aged 88. Her body was buried in the mausoleum of the Figueiredos, in the Caju Cemetery.[1][2]
