The State Department argued Monday that Brazil’s political infrastructure can handle the decision made Sunday in Brazil’s lower house to impeach left-wing President Dilma Rousseff, even though Rousseff has accused her conservative opposition of orchestrating a coup.
“We’re following the political situation in Brazil closely, including the lower house’s April 17 vote to impeach President Rousseff,” State spokesman John Kirby said Monday.
“Certainly this is a challenging political moment for Brazil, but as we’ve said all along, we believe Brazil’s institutions are sufficiently mature to address the country’s challenges,” he added.
Rousseff was impeached with 367 votes in the lower house on Sunday, 25 more than the two-thirds needed to impeach. The Senate must consider the vote next, and Rousseff is not expected to survive that vote.
A similar Senate vote would force Rousseff to either resign or fight on in an impeachment trial.
Conservatives in Brazil have blamed her for a dire recession, and Rousseff’s administration has also been attacked for a bribery scandal.
Kirby refused to say whether the Sunday vote was a good thing or a bad thing for South America.
“We’re confident that Brazilians will work through these difficult political questions democratically and in accordance with Brazil’s constitutional principles,” he said.
