MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – The suspension could be carried out if the Democratic Clause of Mercosur is activated, the newspaper said on Friday, quoting Rousseff as saying that the impeachment process is a "coup."
Rousseff proposed suspending Paraguay’s membership in Mercosur in 2012, when Paraguay’s president Fernando Lugo was impeached. Mercosur suspended Paraguay for violating its Democratic Clause after several Mercosur members rejected Lugo’s removal.
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-owned Petrobras petroleum company.
Earlier this month, Brazil's lower house lawmakers voted in favor of impeaching the president, sending the vote to the upper chamber known as the Federal Senate.
Founded in 1991, Mercosur is a sub-regional economic bloc that includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.
