News24white.png Brazilians demonstrate against impeachment "Democracy!", "No to the coup!" - Placards News24, in Brasilia, 1 April 2016 Tens of thousands of Brazilians waving the red flags of the ruling Workers' Party demonstrated across the country on Thursday against impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff. The rallies were part of a concerted fight-back by the president, who is reeling in the face of impeachment proceedings for allegedly manipulating government accounts to disguise the depth of Brazil's recession during her 2014 reelection. Further boosting Rousseff, her chief ally in the spiraling political crisis - fiery ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva -- won a major court battle that removes him from the jurisdiction of a crusading anti-corruption judge. The peaceful pro-Rousseff demonstrators gathered in 31 cities, including Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and northern centers like Recife. Although a reliable total estimate was not immediately available, at least 25 000 to 30 000 turned out in Brasilia alone, police told AFP. Brazil demonstrates for Dilma in Sao Paulo.jpg Demonstrators protest in support of Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff and former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Andre Penner, AP) "No to the coup," said one placard popular at the protests. "Democracy," read a large banner at the gathering in Rio, which will host the Olympics in five months, where more people turned out. In Sao Paulo, Brazil's financial powerhouse, Francisco Ranieri, 50, said he had taken to the streets "because now is the moment." "The opposition wants to push Dilma (Rousseff) from power to end the people's government," added Ranieri, a shopkeeper. Lula, the hugely influential founder of the Workers' Party and pillar of Brazil's left, had been due to lead the Brasilia rally but cancelled at the last minute. His spokesman did not explain the change in plan. Court victory Just as protesters gathered, Lula won a significant court victory that could help boost Rousseff's cause. Rousseff has been counting on the well-connected ex-president to reorganize her flailing administration and lead the fight against impeachment in Congress. But the leftist heavyweight's comeback has been derailed by corruption charges linked to a huge probe led by federal Judge Sergio Moro into a bribes and embezzlement scheme at state oil company Petrobras. On Thursday, the Supreme Court issued an interim ruling removing the politically explosive case from Moro and putting it with the high court - a decision expected to give Lula considerable breathing space. It was a victory for Rousseff whose chances of defeating impeachment were previously thought to have nosedived this week. She has dismissed the impeachment drive as a trumped up campaign that amounts to a slow coup. On Thursday, she told a group of artists and academics in Brasilia that the accounting she's accused of using illegally were common practice in previous governments. "If I suffer impeachment, then it means that every previous government should have been impeached too, because all of them, without exception, did the same thing," she said. "I was always respecting the law." Battle for votes Congress's preliminary impeachment commission is expected to begin deliberations next Tuesday before making a recommendation mid-April. Its recommendation is non-binding but will set the tone for a vote shortly after by the lower house, where 342 votes out of 513, or two thirds, are needed to launch an impeachment trial in the Senate. If Rousseff manages to get more than 171 votes she would defeat the measure. Impeachment could also fail through abstentions or deputies not attending so that the 342 figure is not reached. From: http://www.news24.com/World/News/thousands-of-brazilians-demonstrate-against -impeachment-20160401 -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
