Former Brazil President Rousseff Reveals Cause of Her Impeachment

Brazil’s former claims that her impeachment was caused by her staunch opposition to plans for the country’s "neoliberal" overhaul.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Brazil’s ousted President Dilma Rousseff suggested in an interview to Sputnik on Friday her impeachment was caused by her staunch opposition to plans for the country’s "neoliberal" overhaul.

"I’ve fallen victim to a coup staged by media and the parliament. It happened because we blocked a neoliberal project for four times straight," she said.

Rousseff claimed the initiative was "neoliberal" in the social, economic and geopolitical sense, and was aimed at "scaling down the role of the Brazilian state."

Brazil’s first female leader was removed from office in August 2016 after the parliament accused her of misusing public funds at the request of then Vice President Michel Temer, who took over the day Rousseff left.

"The main goal is to explain the specifics of a coup, how it evolves, what is going on [in Brazil] and what is next for the country which will face itself next year, the year of presidential elections," she added.

Rousseff has been travelling the world after she was ousted. She said she had been making speeches at major universities in Spain, Portugal and the US West Coast. During the recent leg of her tour, she travelled to the Finnish capital of Helsinki and on to Russia’s St. Petersburg before landing in Moscow.