Riots Spark In Brazil Between Police And Supporters Of Disgraced Former President Dilma Rousseff

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in Brazil to demonstrate against the government.

Organisers said about 50,000 people turned out in on the streets alone for a seventh day of protests against the new President Michel Temer.

Mr Temer took office after Dilma Rousseff was removed from the presidency in an impeachment trial.

The rally began peacefully but police used tear gas, stun grenades and water cannon as clashes broke out at the end.

They said they had been forced to take the measures to avoid vandalism.

Several people were reportedly injured including a media reports.

Some protesters responded by throwing bottles and stones at riot police, and building and setting fire to barricades.

How it all began

Simply put, Ms Rousseff was accused of breaking fiscal laws and was found guilty of moving funds between government budgets, which is illegal under Brazilian law.

Her critics said she was trying to plug deficit holes in popular social programmes to boost her chances of being re-elected for a second term in October 2014.

Ms Rousseff however denied having done anything illegal and said that moving money between budgets was common practice among her predecessors in office.
She said the proceedings were being used by her enemies to remove her from office without having to wait for the next presidential election. During that time, her main rival and a driving force behind the impeachment was the former speaker of the house, Eduardo Cunha.

Mr Cunha’s opponents said he was a political opportunist who had switched sides to increase his influence and that of his PMDB party.

To back up their claim, they pointed to the fact that the PMDB stood to win from the suspension of Ms Rousseff.

Under Brazil’s constitution, just like most countries, the vice-president takes over on an interim basis if the president is suspended from office.

That is how the Michel Temer went from being Ms Rousseff’s vice-president to inaugurating the Olympic Games as Brazil’s acting president.

However, things did not work out smoothly for Mr Cunha either. He had to resign in July over corruption allegations, which he also denies.