Brazil’s Senate voted to impeach President Dilma Rousseff early Thursday amid the country’s worst economic crisis since the 1930s and with only 85 days to go until the Rio Olympics.
After an all-night marathon session of speeches, lawmakers in Latin America’s largest nation voted 55-22 to try Rousseff for allegedly breaking budget laws.
The move will see Vice President Michel Temer becoming acting president during her trial, which could last for up to six months.
The impeachment hinges on allegations Rousseff violated fiscal rules in handling the federal budget. But it’s also become a referendum on her presidency amid a deep recession and a corruption scandal involving the state oil company, Petrobras. Rousseff, who is the country’s first female president, denies wrongdoing.
Outside Congress, where a metal fence was erected to keep apart rival protests, about 6,000 backers of impeachment had earlier chanted “Out with Dilma” while police used pepper spray to disperse gangs of Rousseff supporters, who hurled flares back. One person was arrested for inciting violence.
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