Brazil's ousted President Dilma Rousseff spoke out Friday on the situation in Brazil, saying the moves of the coup government are "regressive" and will ultimately hurt Brazil's poor.
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Unbreakable Dilma
Rousseff repudiated the government of Michel Temer, which is seeking to reduce the budget for social programs such as Bolsa Familia, an initiative set up to assist families in need with food and basic household goods. In fact, all of the actions of the Temer government are movements against the accomplishments of Rousseff's Workers' Party (PT).
The government's only recourse in implementing these measures would be"oppression" in order to make them "viable," according to Rousseff.
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The Temer government wants to reduce the Bolsa Familia program so that it will only benefit five percent of the poor, excluding a staggering 36 million people, warned Rousseff. The program currently offers assistance to 40 million people, of which 17 million are children.
The PT has long been a champion of furthering equality in Latin America's most populous state.
The Brazilian Senate approved the impeachment process against Dilma Rousseff on May 12 with 55 votes in favor, 22 against and 1 abstention. Although Brazil is embroiled in "Car Wash," the name of its largest corruption scandal in history which involves money laundering and bribes surrounding the national Pretrobras oil company, Rousseff has not been accused of corruption.
She is accused of using public funds to hide deficits. However, many members of Temer's party are directly implicated in the scandal.