Senate trial: Rousseff says ‘future of Brazil at stake’

Brasilia, August 29 

Suspended President Dilma Rousseff told the Senate on Monday that the future of Brazil was at stake in her impeachment trial as her conservative opponents were using trumped-up charges to oust her and roll back the social advances of the past 13 years.

The Leftist leader, appearing before the Senate to defend herself in a process expected to remove her from office this week, said Brazil's economic elite and political opposition had sought to destabilise her government since her 2014 re-election.

Rousseff denied charges of breaking budgetary rules and denounced the nine-month impeachment process that has paralyzed Brazilian politics as a plot to overthrow her and protect the interests of Brazil's privileged classes, including the privatisation of public assets such as massive subsalt oil reserves.

She warned that a conservative government would slash spending on social programs, undoing the gains of the past decade in the fight against poverty. “The future of Brazil is at stake,” she said.

Several hundred supporters chanted "Dilma, warrior of the Brazilian nation" outside Congress when her motorcade arrived. — Reuters