MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The upper house of the Brazilian parliament voted last week to start impeachment proceedings against Rousseff. The 68-year-old said the vote was a "coup" against a democratically elected president.
"What they’ve done to the Brazilian democracy I can only describe as abuse, which has forced President Dilma [Rousseff] to step down before her mandate expired," Lula da Silva said.
Rousseff has been suspended from office for 180 days, pending the trial, over accusations of concealing Brazil’s budget deficit ahead of the 2014 re-election. Michel Temer, who had been Brazil's vice president since 2011, is assuming presidency during that period.
