Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff has been removed from office for manipulating the budget after Senators’ impeachment vote.
The Senate’s vote puts an end to the 13 years in power of her left-wing Workers’ Party.
Dilma Rousseff had denied the charges.
Sixty-one senators voted in favor of Dilma Rousseff’s dismissal and 20 against, meeting the two-thirds majority needed to remove her from the presidency.
Michel Temer has been sworn in as president and will serve out Dilma Rousseff’s term until January 1, 2019.
The center-right PMDB party politician had been serving as acting president during the impeachment proceedings.
However, Dilma Rousseff did win one battle on August 31 – a Senate vote on banning her from public office for eight years failed to pass, meaning she could in theory return to politics.
Pledging to appeal against her impeachment, Dilma Rousseff told her supporters: “Right now, I will not say goodbye to you. I am certain I can say: <<See you soon>>.”
She added: “They have convicted an innocent person and carried out a parliamentary coup.”
Venezuela’s leftist government reacted to the vote by removing its ambassador and freezing relations with Brazil.
Dilma Rousseff was suspended in May after the Senate voted to go ahead with the impeachment process.
She was accused of moving funds between government budgets, which is illegal under Brazilian law.
Dilma Rousseff’s critics said she was trying to plug deficit holes in popular social programs to boost her chances of being re-elected for a second term in October 2014.
She fought the allegations, arguing that her right-wing political rivals had been trying to remove her from office ever since she was re-elected.
Dilma Rousseff said that she was being ousted because she had allowed a wide-ranging corruption investigation to go ahead, which resulted in many high-profile politicians being charged.
Senators who voted in favor of her removal said it was Dilma Rousseff and the Workers’ Party who were corrupt and needed to go.
Brazilians have been divided on the issue, with many expressing their support and loyalty to Dilma Rousseff while others have taken part in large demonstrations demanding that she stand down.
Michel Temer has promised to boost Brazil’s economy, which is going through its longest and deepest recession in the past quarter of a century.
