In Brazil, the Senate there has begun hearing witnesses in the impeachment trial of suspended President Dilma Rousseff. Opponents say Rousseff’s budget maneuvers aggravated the crisis in Latin America’s largest economy.
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Brazil’s Senate begins deliberating whether to permanently remove suspended President Dilma Rousseff from office, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016.
Senators are now embarking “on their most somber duties”, said Ricardo Lewandowski, the chief justice of the country’s highest court who is overseeing the trial.
The Supreme Court will preside witnesses from both sides to testify and senators are to cross-examine them.
The impeachment push started late previous year when Eduardo Cunha, then the speaker of the lower House of Deputies and a long-time Rousseff nemesis, introduced the measure.
In April, Brazil’s lower house of parliament, the House of Deputies, passed the impeachment measure by a wide margin.
A draft budget for next year is not expected in Congress until August 31, after the Senate votes, by which time Temer could have more political leverage to push through austerity measures.
If Rousseff is removed from office, her former vice president Michel Temer will be president until the next elections in 2018. Last, the nominal electronic voting is expected to take place on August 31, when every member of the Federal Senate will have to respond yes or no to the question of whether they consider that Dilma Rousseff violated the Law of Fiscal Liability.
Rousseff’s defense team has already filed several appeals to stop the process, which have all been rejected.
A prominent Anti-Rousseff senator, Cassio Cunha Lima, accused them of “procrastinating”.
“I’m unable to believe in politics anymore”, said Douglas Bonckhorny de Oliveira, 39, a street vendor in the Copacabana seaside district in Rio. The Senators will hear the testimony of two witnesses for the prosecution and another six requested by the defense.
Rousseff, who took office in 2011, has repeatedly defended her innocence, claiming the impeachment process is politically motivated.
“We just need a change, anything other than Dilma”, he said. “There are those who view this entire process as something that was manipulated by Temer and his Brazilian Democratic Movement party (PMDB)”.
Inside the chamber, many senators can barely disguise their eagerness to finish Rousseff off – and inflict lasting damage on the once mighty Workers’ Party.
“I never thought I was going to be elected senator to judge, in a questionable trial, the first woman elected president of the country”, said Hoffman.
“But I am very anxious because this trial is traumatic”. He’s being investigated over allegations that he was involved in a massive corruption scandal at the state oil company Petrobras. “Temer is also under investigation, accused of receiving illegal campaign contributions linked to the Petrobras scheme”.
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Brazil’s suspended President Dilma Rousseff arrives at a rally in Brasilia, Brazil, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. The impeachment – labeled a coup by many Brazilians – has generated outrage and frequent protests in Brazil, including during the Olympic Games in Rio. The 75-year-old career politician has said on numerous occasions he will have more freedom after the impeachment trial to implement policies and introduce key proposals, including measures to shrink a near-record budge deficit. Pictured in the background is Senate leader Renan Calheiros.
