Rousseff ousted, Temer Brazil’s new President

Rousseff, 68, was convicted by 61 of the 81 senators of illegally manipulating the national budget. The vote, which exceeded the needed two-thirds majority, meant the veteran leftist leader was immediately removed from office. Three hours later, Temer – her center-right former vice president and onetime crucial coalition partner whom she now accuses of orchestrating a coup against her – was sworn in. Cheers – and cries of disappointment – erupted in the blue-carpeted, circular Senate chamber as the impeachment verdict flashed up on the electronic voting screen. 

Pro-impeachment senators sang the national anthem, some waving Brazilian flags, while leftist allies of Rousseff stood stony faced. “I will not associate my name with this infamy,” read a sign held up by one senator. “Coup plotters!” others chanted. In a surprise twist, a separate vote to bar Rousseff from holding any public office for eight years failed to pass, meaning she could in theory re-enter political life. Speaking at the Alvorada presidential palace, Rousseff, from the leftist Workers’ Party, condemned her forced exit.

“They decided to interrupt the mandate of a president who had committed no crime. They have convicted an innocent person and carried out a parliamentary coup,” she said, defiantly vowing that she’d “be back.” Temer, 75, was to mark his first day as president by flying late Wednesday to China for a G20 summit. A recorded address to the nation was expected to be released later.