Brazilian Senate removes President Dilma Rousseff from Office

Brazil's Senate has removed President, Dilma Rousseff, from the office for breaking budgetary laws. This ends an impeachment process that polarized the country and paralyzed its politics for nine months.

Senators last night voted 61 to 20 to convict Ms Rousseff for illegally using money from state banks to boost public spending. It has ended 13 years of leftist Workers Party rule in Latin America's largest economy.

Conservative Michel Temer, the former Vice President, who has run Brazil since Rousseff's suspension in May, has been sworn in as 37th President of the country to serve out the remainder of the Presidential term through



2018.

Ms Rousseff, Brazil’s first female President, became the President on 1st January 2011. Sixty-nine year old leader denied any wrongdoing and said the impeachment process was a coup aimed at protecting the interests of the country's economic elite and rolling back social programs that lifted millions of Brazilians from poverty during the last decade. Ms Rousseff pledged to appeal against her removal from the power.

Venezuela has announced withdrawal of its ambassador from Brazil and freezing ties with its neighbour in response to the removal of Rousseff from the office.The Foreign Ministry condemned the impeachment.