On Thursday, Brazil’s Senate voted to bring impeachment proceedings against Rousseff, suspending her from office for up to 180 days, and making her vice president, Michel Temer, interim president.
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The installation of Michel Temer as the new leader of Brazil is reminiscent of that country’s history with a military coup, according to Sanchez Cenen, who recalled El Salvador’s ambassador to Brazil.
Rousseff, who is spending the weekend with family in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, has said she could appeal to regional organizations in efforts to discredit the impeachment process.
Most of the Brazilian senators chose to continue the process of political trial against the President according to the laws of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, and with it, to separate Rousseff “provisionally” from the post, for a period of up to 180 days, in which the Senate must decide, by means of the vote of two thirds of its members, the definitive removal from office.
One of the most controversial moves proposed by the Temer government in welfare reform, which could see cuts to popular social programs introduced by Rousseff and her predecessor former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
A constitutional lawyer and career politician, Temer quickly put in place a cabinet last week that includes former Wall Street banker Henrique Meirelles as his finance minister. Rousseff, 68, was automatically suspended for the duration of the trial, which could be up to six months.
It follows a vote of 367 to 146 also for impeachment in the lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, on 17 April 2016. “I may have made mistakes but I did not commit any crime”, she said.
Rousseff faces a trial for “crimes of responsibility” after being accused of violating fiscal rules to hide a budget deficit ahead of the 2014 presidential elections.
In Rousseff’s government, seven out of 31 cabinet ministers were women – Brazil is 51 percent female.
The reaction, or lack thereof, from Argentina, Brazil’s main partner in the region, was particularly stinging for Rousseff.
Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos said Rousseff’s suspension could have a negative impact on the stability of the region.
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Nobody will admit this crisis is about ending government subsidies for the poor, but the crowds demonstrating against Rousseff’s government have been nearly entirely white.
