Brazil’s Senate set Wednesday vote for Rousseff’s impeachment trial

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Brazil's Senate set Wednesday vote for Rousseff's impeachment trial

Senators are delivering their speeches in Brazil as Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment process reaches its final stages.

CCTV America’s Paulo Cabral reports from Brazil.

Brazilians will have to hold their collective breath a little longer.

The impeachment trial that was expected to come to a climactic vote Tuesday will now be pushed to Wednesday. Supreme Court Chief Justice Ricardo Lewandowski, while presiding over the hearings, outlined the amended schedule.

The hearings proceeded with the prosecution and defense making their final arguments. The first to speak was law professor Janaina Paschoal, who rose to national prominence after authoring the bill that started the impeachment process.

“I hope someday President Rousseff will understand that I did what I did also thinking of the future of her grandchildren,” said Paschoal. Her reference to Rousseff’s family was considered disrespectful by Rousseff’s allies. The suspended president’s attorney followed later with a passionate statement in defense of Rousseff.

After the prosecution and defense spoke, lawmakers began delivering their speeches. Each of the 81 senators will have up to 10 minutes to speak. And most of them want to use their time even if at this stage it seems unlikely anything they say will change the expected outcome of an end to Rousseff’s government.

Allies of interim president Michel Temer tried to talk pro-impeachment senators to make shorter speeches of not to speak at all to try and speed up the process. But to most senators, it is going to be a historic moment and they want to leave their words for history to defend their positions in these times of deep political division in Brazil.


Carlos Pio on Rousseff’s impeachment trial

For more on the impeachment trial of Brazil’s first female president Dilma Rousseff, CCTV America’s Elaine Reyes spoke to Carlos Pio, professor at University of Brasilia.