Brazil President Dilma Rousseff ousted in impeachment vote

Brazil’s Senate ousted Dilma Rousseff as president on Wednesday, voting to impeach the leftist leader in the culmination of a protracted process that has divided the country.

The vote to impeach Rousseff was 61 to 20. Two-thirds of senators — 54 out of 81 — were needed for the impeachment motion to pass.

Rousseff was suspended in May after the Senate confirmed a lower-house vote to send her to trial on charges that she broke budget laws. Her former vice president, Michel Temer, took over as interim president.

If the vote goes as predicted, Temer will be confirmed in a Wednesday afternoon ceremony as Brazil’s president for the rest of Rousseff’s term, which ends in December 2018. 

Rousseff has declared her innocence. She and her supporters have denounced her impeachment as illegal and undemocratic.

Source: The Washington Post