Brazil’s Senate removes President Rousseff from office
Defiant official says she did nothing illegal, vows to be an opposition voice
After an emotionally charged, late-night debate, the Brazilian Senate voted Wednesday to remove suspended President Dilma Rousseff from office for fiscal irregularities, a move she said amounted to an illegal coup.
The 61-20 vote capped a yearlong power struggle between Rousseff ’s long-governing leftist government and opposition senators and comes less than two weeks after the Rio Olympics, which highlighted Brazil but also put its economic and political woes on international display.
Two hours after the Senate voted to remove her from office, Rousseff addressed supporters in a defiant speech.
“Hear me well: They think that they have beaten us, but they’re mistaken. We’ll all fight. There will be a firm, untiring and energetic opposition to their government,” she said.
In an unexpected second vote, senators failed to reach the twothirds majority needed to ban Rousseff from public office for the next eight years — leaving open the possibility that Rousseff could run again in 2018, or serve in a future government.
The Senate suspended Rousseff in May on charges that she used illegal budgetary maneuvers to hide the extent of the country’s financial problems. Brazil’s economy slumped into a deep recession.
A raucous and emotional impeachment hearing started last Thursday. Rousseff spoke Monday to defend herself and underwent harsh questioning from the senators for nearly 14 hours.
Opponents of Rousseff, 68, charged that she broke the law in manipulating the government budget to preserve popular social programs that bolstered her reelection in 2014.
She denied doing anything illegal, saying previous presidents routinely made similar fund transfers. “I did not commit the crimes that I am arbitrarily and unjustly accused of,” she said Monday, adding that “we are one step away from a real coup d’etat.
“I assume the presidency of Brazil after a transparent and democratic decision by our national congress,” Temer said in a prerecorded address that aired at 8 p.m. local time.
He spoke of the grave economic crisis racking Brazil, noting that 12 million Brazilians are unemployed and that the country currently has a $52.6 billion deficit. He highlighted steps his government had already taken to limit government spending, including a much-criticized move to shutter government ministries in May.
“We can’t look forward with our eyes set on the past,” he said.
“Hear me well: They think that they have beaten us, but they’re mistaken. ... There will be a firm, untiring and energetic opposition to their government.” Dilma Rousseff