NEW YORK (AP) – Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff says she is innocent of any wrongdoing and she will fight efforts to remove her before the next elections in 2018.
Speaking to reporters following an address at the United Nations on Friday, Rousseff characterized the impeachment proceedings against her in Brazil as a coup and blamed corrupt politicians, a hostile media and flagging economy.
She said impeachment would have “serious consequences for the Brazilian political process.”
Rousseff is accused of using sleight-of-hand accounting tricks to continue funding government programs and thus shore up flagging support. She has argued that such maneuvers are common practice in Brazil.
On Sunday, the lower Chamber of Deputies voted in favor of impeaching Rousseff. The measure now goes to the Senate for a possible trial.