By Georg Ismar, dpa
Rio de Janeiro (dpa) - Complaining of corruption and a weak economy, hundreds of thousands of Brazilians went out onto the streets Sunday to call for the ouster of President Dilma Rousseff.
The demonstrations in over 100 cities and towns were the largest in months but probably fell short of the estimated 1.7 million participants in the largest protests to date earlier this year.
Police said the number of demonstrators was about 879,000, but organizers said more than twice that number took part, at 2 million, the news portal Globo reported.
Rousseff called a crisis session with her closest ministers.
In Rio de Janeiro demonstrators held signs saying Rousseff and former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva should be sent to jail. "Out with Dilma and the Workers' Party," one banner said.
According to an opinion poll published earlier this month by the private Datafolha Institute, 66 per cent of Brazilians favour of the removal of the left-leaning president and the party, which has been in power since 2003.
The same poll showed only 8 per cent of Brazilians currently regard Rousseff's administration as "good or very good."
Rousseff won re-election in October with 51 per cent of the vote, and her second term started in January. In recent months however her popularity has suffered the effects of a massive corruption scandal involving the state-controlled oil giant Petrobras, which has led to the arrests of several former officials of her Workers' Party.
Numerous politicians are suspected of having benefited financially from a corruption scandal by inflated accounting in construction contracts. Rousseff denies any involvement in the scandal.
While the Workers' Party stands at the centre of the scandal, other parties are suspected of involvement.
The speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Eduardo Cunha, has been charged with receiving 5 million dollars from Camargo Correa construction firm for brokering favoritism. He is still serving in the legislature, but last month officially broke with Rousseff.
Cunha belongs to Brazil's Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), Rousseff's most important coalition partner. He maintains that he has been unjustly treated and has been working against Rousseff.
The split came after an investigation was opened against him and dozens of other legislators for taking payoffs from
Rio de Janeiro (dpa) - Complaining of corruption and a weak economy, hundreds of thousands of Brazilians went out onto the streets Sunday to call for the ouster of President Dilma Rousseff.
The demonstrations in over 100 cities and towns were the largest in months but probably fell short of the estimated 1.7 million participants in the largest protests to date earlier this year.
Police said the number of demonstrators was about 879,000, but organizers said more than twice that number took part, at 2 million, the news portal Globo reported.
Rousseff called a crisis session with her closest ministers.
In Rio de Janeiro demonstrators held signs saying Rousseff and former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva should be sent to jail. "Out with Dilma and the Workers' Party," one banner said.
According to an opinion poll published earlier this month by the private Datafolha Institute, 66 per cent of Brazilians favour of the removal of the left-leaning president and the party, which has been in power since 2003.
The same poll showed only 8 per cent of Brazilians currently regard Rousseff's administration as "good or very good."
Rousseff won re-election in October with 51 per cent of the vote, and her second term started in January. In recent months however her popularity has suffered the effects of a massive corruption scandal involving the state-controlled oil giant Petrobras, which has led to the arrests of several former officials of her Workers' Party.
Numerous politicians are suspected of having benefited financially from a corruption scandal by inflated accounting in construction contracts. Rousseff denies any involvement in the scandal.
While the Workers' Party stands at the centre of the scandal, other parties are suspected of involvement.
The speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Eduardo Cunha, has been charged with receiving 5 million dollars from Camargo Correa construction firm for brokering favoritism. He is still serving in the legislature, but last month officially broke with Rousseff.
Cunha belongs to Brazil's Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), Rousseff's most important coalition partner. He maintains that he has been unjustly treated and has been working against Rousseff.
The split came after an investigation was opened against him and dozens of other legislators for taking payoffs from
firms that were seeking contracts with state-controlled oil
giant Petrobras.
The political infighting has impeded the conclusion of an urgently needed austerity package and structural reforms. Sinking prices for natural resources have weaken economic performance and consumption has collapsed. A further downgrade by ratings agencies to junk threatens the withdrawal of investors from the world's fifth-largest country.
Inflation climbed to 9.56 for the 12 months through July. It is the highest 12-month inflation rate in Brazil since a rate of 11.02 per cent in November 2003, and has meant the country of 200 million people are groaning under steadily rising prices.
The demonstrations were generally peaceful and included flag-waving and the singing of the Brazilian national anthem. There were some individual calls for the military to step in and chase Rousseff from office.
Among the groups who called for the demonstrations were the alliance Movimento Brasil Livre and representatives of the centre-right opposition.
© 2014 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH. All rights reserved.
The political infighting has impeded the conclusion of an urgently needed austerity package and structural reforms. Sinking prices for natural resources have weaken economic performance and consumption has collapsed. A further downgrade by ratings agencies to junk threatens the withdrawal of investors from the world's fifth-largest country.
Inflation climbed to 9.56 for the 12 months through July. It is the highest 12-month inflation rate in Brazil since a rate of 11.02 per cent in November 2003, and has meant the country of 200 million people are groaning under steadily rising prices.
The demonstrations were generally peaceful and included flag-waving and the singing of the Brazilian national anthem. There were some individual calls for the military to step in and chase Rousseff from office.
Among the groups who called for the demonstrations were the alliance Movimento Brasil Livre and representatives of the centre-right opposition.
© 2014 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH. All rights reserved.
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