Clashes Between Police and Dilma Rousseff Supporters Outside Brazilian Senate

On the eve of the Brazilian Senate's vote regarding the fate of President Dilma Rousseff, her supporters clashed with police in front of the country's Congress on Wednesday, May 11. According to Reuters, if more than half of the 81 Brazilian senators vote to impeach Rousseff, starting Thursday, Vice President Michel Temer will begin his six-month term as acting president. The report states that a large number of Brazilian senators have registered to speak at this special Senate session. Reports indicate that at least six thousand opponents of Dilma Rousseff gathered outside the Brazilian Congress, chanting against her. Meanwhile, police used pepper spray to disperse the president's supporters from in front of the Senate. Eyewitnesses reported that several of Rousseff's supporters were arrested during the clashes outside the Brazilian Congress. Meanwhile, Rousseff's aides stated that if the Senate votes against the president, she will end her cabinet's activities on Thursday morning and will ask her ministers not to cooperate with Michel Temer's government. According to Reuters, an unprecedented recession since 1930 has caused Dilma Rousseff to lose her popularity. However, the prospect of Michel Temer's rise to power has made business sectors hopeful that the new government will restore investor confidence by reducing the budget deficit and witness economic growth in Brazil. Meanwhile, the political crisis in Brazil, which is considered the largest economy in Latin America, has deepened the country's economic recession. In a last-ditch effort to prevent the Senate vote, Rousseff requested the country's Supreme Court on Tuesday to halt the impeachment process against her. The Brazilian president insists that the impeachment plan lacks legal basis and is politically motivated. Meanwhile, opponents claim that widespread financial corruption during Rousseff's presidency and the government's inability to manage the country have led Brazil to bankruptcy. According to Reuters, forecasts indicate that 57 Brazilian senators will vote against Dilma Rousseff, while only 21 senators will support her. Rousseff is accused of manipulating the country's budget statistics and financial corruption, and it is said that she will be tried after her political immunity is revoked. The fate of the Brazilian president will be known in a few hours.