MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – Brazil's Senate voted 55-22 on Thursday to start impeachment proceedings against Rousseff after she was accused of concealing the country’s budget deficit ahead of the 2014 re-election. Rousseff called the impeachment process "a coup."
"I regret there is no woman or black person in the administration after many years," Rousseff said as quoted by The Wall Street Journal on Friday, stressing that "gender and racial discrimination is a serious issue in Brazil."
The 68-year-old has been suspended from office for 180 days, pending the trial. Vice President Michel Temer will assume presidency during that period. Temer unveiled the new cabinet on Thursday.
After his appointment as acting President, Temer stressed that Brazil’s new government must restore people’s trust in the authorities.
Rousseff has been facing a wave of public discontent for over a year amid the country’s struggling economy and a major corruption scandal in the state-controlled Petrobras oil company.
