Suspended Brazil leader blasts critics; fill-in urges unity

BRASILIA, Brazil – Brazil’s suspended President Dilma Rousseff vowed Thursday to use “all legal means” to fight her permanent ouster in an impeachment trial, raising the specter of continued political turmoil as acting leader Michel Temer tries to rescue a sinking economy.

Hours later, Temer called for unity, promising to improve the economy and support a big corruption probe at state oil company Petrobras.

Speaking in the morning after the Senate voted to impeach her, the nation’s first female president blasted the process as “fraudulent” and said it was an injustice more painful than the torture she endured under a past military dictatorship.

She again rejected critics’ accusations that she used illegal accounting tricks in managing the federal budget.

“I may have committed errors, but I never committed crimes,” Rousseff said during a 14-minute address, flanked by dozens of top officials and brass from her left-leaning Workers’ Party.

The Senate’s vote came after a monthslong battle that laid bare Brazil’s fury over corruption and economic decay just months before it hosts the Summer Olympics.

Speaking to several thousand supporters as she left the Planalto presidential palace, Rousseff said the allegations against her are nothing more than a red herring.

“I am the victim of a great injustice,” she said.

Temer, a 75-year-old career politician who many call the “butler” for his subdued manner, struck a conciliatory note in his first words to the nation Thursday afternoon.

“Now is not a moment for celebrations, but rather for profound reflection,” he said, adding that reducing unemployment was a top government priority.

Temer also mentioned the upcoming Olympics, slated for August in Rio de Janeiro. “We won’t again soon have another opportunity like his one,” he said.

The Senate has 180 days to conduct a trial and decide whether Rousseff should be permanently removed from office – in which case Temer would serve out the remainder of her term, which ends in December 2018.

Impeachment supporters contend Temer, a career politician and constitutional expert, is the best hope for reversing Brazil’s economic collapse.

Temer has promised to cut spending and privatize many sectors controlled by the state. But he has also denied Rousseff’s allegations he intends to dismantle the social programs that helped the Workers’ Party lift an estimated 35 million people out of poverty during its 13 years in power.