Thousands protest Rousseff’s trial
August 30, 2016, 11:55 pm

Temer, Rousseff’s replacement, is very unpopular in Brazil; polls show voters want elections – and not his presidency – if Rousseff is impeached [Xinhua]

It was the second day of protests; demonstrators took to the streets shortly after Dilma Rousseff’s impassioned speech during the fourth day of her trial on Monday.

Carrying banners demanding that interim President Michel Temer step down, members of the Landless Worker’s Movement (MST) said that “today’s actions are an expression of the resistance against the coup d’etat underway in Brazil,” according to their statement online.

Police say they arrested four protesters including the driver of a truck used to block one of the roads.

But the scene in Sao Paulo was less controlled on the final day of her trial as local media reported battles between protesters and police who were trying to disperse the anti-coup demonstrations.

Many of those protesting say they are concerned that the social welfare and poverty assistance programs set up by Dilma Rousseff and her predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will be done away with by a new government that has already taken measures to reverse many of the leftist policies of the past decade.

“It is not known what will happen with the social welfare agencies that we modernized to increase services over the past few years. However, the interim minister said that the agencies are vacant spaces. Is he going to close the agencies? That is absurd,” Rousseff had previously cautioned.

Stand-in interim President Michel Temer is not seen as a popular alternative to Rousseff as he himself also faces corruption charges.

He was not popularly received at the Olympic Games, being the target of loud boos during the opening ceremony.

Consequently, he kept a low profile for the duration of the events and skipped the closing ceremony altogether.

Meanwhile, Rousseff continued to face cross-examination from some of the 81 members of the Senate. On Tuesday, some of the senators went beyond the charges of misrepresenting the budget during her 2014 reelection campaign and outright blamed her for Brazil’s current economic crisis.

The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies