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Brazil's Dilma Rousseff removed as President in impeachment vote

Speed News Desk | Updated on: 10 February 2017, 1:47 IST

Brazil's Dilma Rousseff was removed of the country's presidency on 31 August in a Senate impeachment vote ending 13 years of leftist rule in Latin America's biggest economy.

Rousseff, 68, was convicted of illegally manipulating the national bubdget by 61 of the 81 senators. After the vote, that required two-third majority, she was immediately removed from office.

According to reports, pro-impeachment senators burst into a rendering of the national anthem, some waving Brazilian flags, while allies of Rousseff stood stony faced.

"I will not associate my name to this infamy," read a sign held up by one senator.

Brazil's first female president, holed up in the presidential palace on the outskirts of the capital Brasilia with close aides, was expected to make a statement soon after the vote.

Her vice president turned bitter political enemy, Michel Temer, will be sworn as her replacement at about 3:00 pm (1800 GMT).

Rousseff, from the leftist Workers' Party, is accused of taking illegal state loans to patch budget holes in 2014, masking the country's problems as it slid into its deepest recession in decades.

First published: 1 September 2016, 8:21 IST