Brasília (AFP) – Senators launched the tense impeachment trial of Brazil’s first woman president, Dilma Rousseff, Thursday, with high expectations that she will be sacked within days.
The warm vibe of the Rio Olympic Games faded and tension returned as the emotionally-charged affair neared its climax, threatening to end 13 years of leftist rule in Latin America’s biggest economy.
Chief justice Ricardo Lewandowski declared the trial open and later briefly suspended it as senators yelled at each other while debating procedural matters.
The proceedings in the capital Brasilia were considered almost sure to result in Rousseff, 68, being found guilty of cooking the budget books to mask the depth of economic problems during her 2014 reelection campaign.
If she is removed from office, her center-right former vice president turned rival Michel Temer will be sworn in to serve until 2018.
“Senators, now you must turn into judges and set aside your ideological, partisan and personal positions,” Lewandowski told the house.
But the impeachment affair is heavily politically charged.
Rousseff’s rivals blame her for economic chaos and are out to crush her Workers’ Party.
Rousseff, who was tortured and imprisoned by the 1970s dictatorship for membership in a Marxist urban guerrilla group, has sworn to resist what she calls a coup.
“We will fight to reinforce democracy in our country with the same force that I fought against the military dictatorship,” she told supporters late Wednesday in Brasilia.
– Finishing Rousseff off –
In Thursday’s opening session, Rousseff’s allies voiced procedural objections in vain before the first witnesses were to be heard.
The trial will climax Monday when the president, who was suspended from office in May, addresses the Senate herself for the first time. A vote is then expected within 48 hours, with a two thirds majority of the 81 senators required to bring Rousseff down.
Senator Raimundo Lira, a Temer ally and strong backer of impeachment, told AFP that senators “have already made up their minds and I don’t think there will be any change at the vote.”
A huge metal barricade was been on the esplanade outside Congress to separate rival demonstrators, with large protests expected Monday.
Inside the chamber, many senators can barely disguise their eagerness to finish Rousseff off — and inflict lasting damage on the once mighty Workers’ Party.
The charges against Rousseff narrowly focus on her use of unauthorized state loans to cover budget gaps. She argues that the practice has long been accepted by a succession of governments.
Unofficially, Rousseff is taking the blame for Brazil’s slide into economic decline, mixed with a giant corruption scandal and gridlock in Congress.
Her predecessor and mentor, Workers’ Party founder Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, presided over an economic boom. He used the proceeds for social programs lifting tens of millions of Brazilians from poverty.
However, Rousseff’s rule coincided with a dramatic slump in global commodity prices, which badly hurt exporter Brazil. On top of that came the revelation of mass embezzlement at state oil giant Petrobras during Lula’s presidency.
Although Rousseff herself has not been accused of stealing from Petrobras, many of her close allies on the left, as well as opponents on the right, have been charged in a probe dubbed Operation Car Wash.
“The truth is I don’t care much if Dilma stays or goes,” said Pamela Dos Anjos, 28, in a part of Sao Paulo long considered a Workers’ Party bastion. “Here things are always bad.”
– Anyone but Dilma? –
Temer, who has served as acting president since May, is hardly more popular than Rousseff. A recent opinion poll found only 13 percent of Brazilians thought he was doing a good job.
However, his center-right coalition and choice of market-friendly ministers have raised expectations that he can get the economy back on track.
The economy shrank 3.8 percent in 2015 and is forecast to drop about 3.3 percent again this year, a historic recession. Inflation is at about nine percent and unemployment at 11 percent.
“I agree that Dilma must leave power. Leaders must be responsible for their actions,” said Mara Campos, 50, waiting at a bus stop in Brasilia.
“But I am very worried because this trial is traumatic.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.