Brazilian Senate Votes to Oust President Dilma Rousseff
By VOA News August 31, 2016
Brazilian senators have voted 61 to 20 to remove president Dilma Rousseff from office, finding her guilty of breaking budget laws.
The verdict came down Wednesday after Rousseff, the country's first female president, underwent more than 14 hours of questioning on Monday. Final arguments of her impeachment trial took place Tuesday.
Of the 81 senators, at least 54 had to vote in favor of impeachment for the decision to be binding.
Rousseff is expected to be replaced by her vice president, Michel Temer.
She is alleged to have illegally used money from state banks to cover deficits in the federal budget in an effort to boost her popularity heading into the 2014 presidential election.
Rousseff denied any wrongdoing in the matter and accused her political opponents of using the trial as a way to overthrow her and undermine Brazil's democracy.
"I know I will be judged, but my conscience is clear," she said during remarks to senators Monday. "I did not commit a crime."
Lawyers from the pro-impeachment side, though argued that Rousseff's alleged corruption directly contributed to the economic issues Brazil has experienced over the past several years.
"The world needs to know that we are not just voting about accounting issues," said Janaina Paschoal, the author of the impeachment request against Rousseff. "Impeachment is a constitutional remedy that we need to resort to when the situation gets particularly serious, and that is what has happened."
Some information for this report was provided by AP
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