Presidential impeachment ends Brazil’s 14-year leftist populism

Brazil's first female President Dilma Rousseff has been impeached on Wednesday (local time), lowering the curtain on the country’s 14-year leftist rule that started in January 2003 with the then-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The incoming right-wing government in Latin America’s largest country is expected to transform the leftist-dominated political landscape in Latin America.

According to the New York Times, Brazil’s Senate voted 61 to 20 to impeach Rousseff, far exceeding the 54 votes required. Roussef, whose presidency had been suspended since May 12, when her impeachment trial began. Now, she has to leave the presidential residence within 30 days. Right-leaning acting President Michel Temer will stay on the job for the remainder of Roussef’s tenure, which ends on Dec. 31, 2018.

Roussef issued a statement calling her impeachment a coup d’état against the people and the state. She plans to appeal the impeachment at Brazil's Supreme Court.

At his inauguration ceremony just three hours after the impeachment was passed, Temer vowed in a pre-recorded television speech to revive the economy by reducing government spending through money-tightening measures and pension reform.

황인찬기자 hic@donga.com