| Advertisement |
BRASILIA, Brazil, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Hundreds of thousands of protesters throughout Brazil are demonstrating against President Dilma Rousseff, with some calling for her immediate impeachment. Protesters accuse Rousseff of failing to eradicate corruption within Brazil's politics. They also blame her for an economic slump as inflation continues to rise after about a decade of impressive economic growth.
Advertisement
About 350,000 people protested in Sao Paulo, Brazil's most populated city, and about 25,000 demonstrated in Brasilia, the country's capital.
Thousands of marchers took over Rio de Janeiro's famous Copacabana beach. The majority of protesters were white, middle-class Brazilians.
A recent survey showed that the most support for Rousseff's impeachment comes from the poorest areas, which supported her last election in 2014. Rousseff's approval rating has dipped to single-digit lows.
The protesters are rallying against Rousseff, but their goals seem divided. Some call for her impeachment, others for the immediate removal of Rousseff through a military coup and some are telling her to kill herself, while others are just voicing dissatisfaction, adding that removing a democratically elected president may be harmful.
Rousseff is also blamed for corruption as the Petrobras bribery scandal continues. She headed Petrobras, a semi-public oil and gas company, as apparent briberies took place. She was exonerated by authorities, but senior members of her government have been charged.
At least 39 people in Brazil have been indicted on corruption, money laundering and racketeering in the Petrobras scandal. The Brazilian Federal Police said the indicted members of the group moved over $3.9 billion in what police term as "atypical" financial transactions.
