Brazil's Rousseff says may appeal to Mercosur if impeached illegally

PanARMENIAN.Net - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff denounced her impeachment as a "coup" to an international audience on Friday, April 22 and said she would appeal to the Mercosur bloc of South American nations for Brazil to be suspended if democratic process is broken, Reuters reports.

Mercosur has a democratic clause that can be triggered when an elected government is overthrown in any of its member states, as happened in Paraguay in 2012. A breach results in suspension from meetings and can lead to the country losing its trade benefits.

Rousseff's comments were the strongest signal yet that she could continue fighting her ouster if the Senate removes her from office.

The impeachment process has "all the characteristics of a coup" as it has no legal basis, she said, in an attempt to rally international support for her political narrative.

Rousseff could be removed from office within weeks by the Senate in an impeachment process that has paralyzed her government and thrown Brazil into its deepest political crisis since its return to civilian rule in 1985.

The president denied her cabinet is hobbled by impeachment proceedings but said the country currently lacked the political stability to balance its fiscal accounts.

Rousseff suffered a crushing defeat on Sunday when the lower house of Congress voted to impeach her, almost guaranteeing the leftist leader will be forced from office in a Senate trial just months before the nation hosts the Olympics.

The impeachment has polarized the country, with her supporters regarding the attempt to oust her for breaking budget laws as a "coup without weapons," while opponents say the process follows the law and the constitution.