Small group of Brazilians celebrate Rousseff's impeachment

Record ID: 103853

  • Title: Small group of Brazilians celebrate Rousseff's impeachment
  • Date: 12th May 2016
  • Summary: SAO PAULO, BRAZIL (MAY 12, 2016) (REUTERS) DEMONSTRATORS GATHERING ON SAO PAULO'S CENTRAL AVENIDA PAULISTA VARIOUS OF DEMONSTRATORS WAVING BRAZILIAN FLAGS MAN WITH FACE PAINTED HOLDING DOLL WITH A CARICATURE OF DILMA ROUSSEFF IN PRISON GARB DEMONSTRATORS HUGGING IN CELEBRATION (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) DEMONSTRATOR, BIBIANA, SAYING: "A year and a half ago everyone said an impeachment was impossible and today we are seeing that together, the people can realize their dreams. A country is nothing without its people and today we've shown the strength of the people." DEMONSTRATORS WITH FLAGS VARIOUS OF TENTS WHERE DEMONSTRATORS SPENT THE NIGHT ON THE STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) DEMONSTRATOR, SILVIA RAMOS, SAYING: "We are very happy, but still on watch, because what we want is a government without corruption. So we've been here since March 16 as outraged Brazilians, and we've stayed here until today." VARIOUS OF DEMONSTRATORS WITH MORNING NEWSPAPERS
  • Embargoed: 27th May 2016 13:22
  • Keywords: Brazil Sao Paulo impeachment President Dilma Rousseff celebration
  • Location: SAO PAULO, BRAZIL
  • City: SAO PAULO, BRAZIL
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0014HI6JWN
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Draped with Brazilian flags and cheering along one of Sao Paulo's busiest city streets, dozens of people began celebrating on Thursday (May 12) the move by Brazil's Senate to put leftist President Dilma Rousseff on trial in a historic decision brought on by a deep recession and a corruption scandal that will now confront her successor, Vice President Michel Temer.
    With Rousseff to be suspended during the Senate trial for allegedly breaking budget rules, the centrist Temer will take the helm of a country that again finds itself mired in political and economic volatility after a recent decade of prosperity.
    The 55-22 vote ends more than 13 years of rule by the left-wing Workers' Party, which rose from Brazil's labour movement and helped pull millions of people out of poverty before seeing many of its leaders tainted by corruption investigations.
    "A year and a half ago everyone said an impeachment was impossible and today we are seeing that together, the people can realize their dreams. A country is nothing without its people and today we've shown the strength of the people," one demonstrator identified as Bibiana said.
    Some demonstrators said they had been camping out in the streets for weeks waiting for the result.
    "We are very happy, but still on watch, because what we want is a government without corruption. So we've been here since March 16 as outraged Brazilians, and we've stayed here until today," said Silvia Ramos.
    Fireworks rang out in cities across Brazil after the vote at the end of a 20-hour session in the Senate. Police had briefly clashed with pro-Rousseff demonstrators in Brasilia on Wednesday, exchanging volleys of tear gas and rocks.
    Rousseff, a 68-year-old economist and former Marxist guerrilla who was Brazil's first female president, is unlikely to be acquitted in a trial that could last as long as six months.
    A two-thirds majority is needed in the Senate to convict her but the scale of her defeat on Thursday showed that the opposition already has the support it needs.
    The impeachment process began in the lower house of Congress in December. Rousseff has denied any wrongdoing and called her impeachment a "coup".
    Temer, a 75-year-old centrist and constitutional scholar who spent decades in Brazil's Congress, now faces the challenge of restoring economic growth and calm at a time when Brazilians, increasingly polarized, are questioning whether their institutions can deliver on his promise of stability.
    In addition to a towering budget deficit, equal to more than 10 percent of its annual economic output, Brazil is suffering from rising unemployment, plummeting investment and a projected economic contraction of more than three percent this year.
    Rousseff will make a statement at 10 a.m. local (1300 GMT), aides said, and will then depart Planalto to address a rally of supporters accompanied by her mentor, Workers Party founder and former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
    The Official Gazette on Thursday showed that Rousseff dismissed her cabinet, including the sports minister, who is in final preparations for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August. The central bank governor, who has ministerial rank, was not included in the decree.
    The move was designed to frustrate a smooth transition for Temer, whom Rousseff deems a traitor because of his efforts, as leader of the party that was her main ally in Congress, to unravel that coalition and force party colleagues to resign from government posts.
    Temer plans to swear in new ministers on Thursday afternoon and is promising pro-market policies to bring Brazil's budget deficit under control, rein in inflation and get the economy growing again.
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