Brazil’s president Rousseff makes final plea to impeachment committee

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s top lawyer will present final arguments before an impeachment committee on Monday at the start of a crucial two weeks in the embattled leader’s bid to stay in power. Solicitor General Jose Eduardo Cardozo was due to face the cross-party committee for the last time before it votes on whether to recommend Rousseff face trial for allegedly illegal accounting practices. The commission recommendation, scheduled for April 11, is non-binding but will set the tone for a vote soon after in the lower house of Congress on Rousseff’s fate.

This week will be the week where both sides are playing all their cards pretty hard and making their moves.

Gabriel Petrus, an analyst at the political consultancy Barral M Jorge Associates

The schedule gives Rousseff – whose main coalition partner went over to the opposition last week – just days to lobby for support and save her presidency. Following intense behind-the-scenes dealing, she is soon expected to announce a series of ministerial posts and other government jobs given in reward for congressional support. Rousseff is accused of illegally manipulating government accounts, a charge that many experts consider to be relatively light for impeachment. Huge opposition rallies and smaller but still significant pro-Rousseff rallies are now a regular feature across Latin America’s biggest country, accentuating a divide that some fear could turn violent.

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