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           Impeachment Proceedings Opened Against Brazil's President

   by Reuters

   Brazilian opposition efforts to unseat President Dilma Rousseff
   advanced Wednesday when the speaker of lower house of Congress opened
   impeachment proceedings against her, a move that threatens to mire the
   government in political wrangling as the economy nosedives.

   Opposition parties filed the request in September, accusing  the
   unpopular president of violating Brazil's fiscal laws and manipulating
   government finances to benefit her re-election campaign last year.
   Eduardo Cunha, speaker of the lower house, said he had agreed to open
   proceedings.

   A special committee with members from all parties will decide on the
   merits of the request, which then needs two-thirds, or 342, of the
   votes of the chamber to suspend the president pending a 90-day trial by
   the Senate.

   ''Cunha, from the centrist Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, a
   fractious partner in the governing coalition, is himself fighting for
   political survival in the face of calls for his ouster and multiple
   investigations for allegedly taking bribes.

   But his power to start impeachment proceedings has given him a trump
   card against Rousseff and the governing coalition, which is splintering
   under the weight of Brazil's worst recession in 25 years and a massive
   graft scandal.

   "The basis of this [impeachment proceeding] is purely technical," said
   Cunha, dismissing the idea that his decision was motivated by personal
   or political reasons.

   Dozens of politicians, including Cunha, have been implicated in a
   price-fixing and political kickback scheme uncovered at state-run oil
   company Petrobras. He has denied the allegations.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/impeachment-proceedings-opened-brazilian-president/3085059.html