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News > Latin America

Brazil's Popular Front Supports Rousseff in Face of Impeachment

  • Members of Brazil's Homeless Workers' Movement march in support of President Dilma Rousseff in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Aug. 20, 2015.

    Members of Brazil's Homeless Workers' Movement march in support of President Dilma Rousseff in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Aug. 20, 2015. | Photo: Reuters

Published 8 December 2015
Opinion

Social movements, political parties, and other groups have rejected the attempt to impeach President Dilma Rousseff and called for national mobilization.

Brazilian social movements, rural groups, and political parties organized in the Popular Front called for unity on Tuesday to reject the impeachment process opposition figures launched against President Dilma Rousseff in an attempt to remove her from power.

The Popular Front announced a national day of action for Dec.16 to mobilize social movements to reject the impeachment and sway undecided lawmakers toward supporting Workers’ Party President Rousseff.

“If conservative sectors want power, they must wait until the next elections in 2018 and ensure democratic consolidation, which is in danger with these blundering (impeachment) attempts,” the Popular Front said in a statement.

“Brazil Popular Front calls for mobilizations against the coup for Dec. 16.”

The call for mobilization comes as Vice President Michel Temer, of the Democratic Movement Party or PMDB, whose speaker of the Lower House is spearheading the impeachment efforts, has hinted at a potential rupture in his alliance with Rousseff.

The PMDB has been divided on the issue of Rousseff’s impeachment, but Temer’s impending break with the president could give the party the two-thirds majority support it needs to move the process one step closer to removing Rousseff from power.

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In the case of an impeachment, Temer would assume the presidency.

The impeachment request is based on the alleged wrongdoing signaled by the Federal Accounts Court, a state body that accused Rousseff’s government of manipulating accounts in 2014 to disguise a widening fiscal deficit.​

But the Popular Front rejects the allegations and calls for broad unity to support Rousseff.

“We are against this impeachment process against the president because she did not commit any crime or illegal act than can be considered a crime of fiscal responsibility,” the organization said.

ANALYSIS: Brazil: Understanding the Latest Efforts at Ousting Rousseff

The Popular Front joins broader condemnation of the impeachment process by a coalition of 70 legal experts, former PT President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and other social movements.

Opposition House Speaker Eduardo Cunha opened the impeachment process against Rousseff last week. Two-thirds of the Lower House must authorize the impeachment for it to proceed to the Senate.

WATCH: Lawyers Call Impeachment Proceedings Illegal

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