Demonstrators in Brazil want impeachment of president

An estimated 2,500 people took to Sao Paulo’s streets Saturday to push for the ouster of President Dilma Rousseff, with some charging that she should be impeached. They marched through the country’s sprawling industrial and financial hub, frustrated with her re-election to a new term. They claim Rousseff knew of a scheme that siphoned money from the state-owned oil company Petrobras and funneled it to the governing Workers’ Party.

We want them out – they should leave power.

Teacher Maria Lucia Monteiro, 61

Rousseff was re-elected last Sunday with 51.6 percent of the votes against 48.4 percent for center-right challenger Aecio Neves. The vote showed huge support for the incumbent in the impoverished northeast, where millions receive benefits from huge welfare programs Rousseff’s PT has rolled out over the past decade. In the more prosperous south, however, many of those who backed Neves to end 12 years of PT rule blame northern voters for Rousseff’s narrow win.

I am sure there was fraud in these elections. I have never been out on the street to protest. But now, here I am.

Economist Marlon Laube

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