Fueled
by mounting anger over a corruption scandal that has implicated
politicians in Rousseff's party, demonstrators chanted "Out with Dilma"
and "Time for change."
Police estimated that 275,000 demonstrators marched in Sao Paulo. A
sea of protesters dressed in the green and yellow of the Brazilian flag
used decades-old rallying cries to fire up their ranks, singing rock
songs that date back to protests of the country's one-time military
dictatorship.
It's the second day of
nationwide anti-government demonstrations in less than a month. And
protesters vowed that it wouldn't be the last.
There are a number of issues at play. One of the biggest: an investigation into a multimillion-dollar kickback scheme at the state-run oil company Petrobras.
Most of the politicians accused in the investigation belong to Rousseff's Workers Party and its allies.
And
during many of the years that the alleged corruption took place,
Rousseff was the chairwoman of Petrobras. There hasn't been any evidence
she was involved with the scheme, and her supporters say the position
is merely a figurehead.
Rousseff has
defended Brazilians' right to protest and acknowledged the need to clean
up corruption at Petrobras but denied any prior knowledge of the
alleged kickback scheme.
Brazilians are still outraged.
Rousseff
won re-election with just over 50% of the votes in October, but her
approval rating plummeted to 13% after protests began last month.
"Many
things have changed since the election," Janaina, a protester in Sao
Paulo, said on Sunday, noting that even some people who voted for
Rousseff were in the crowd.
Some
protesters said they'd rather see Rousseff step down than push for
impeachment, which could be difficult to push through without evidence
tying the President directly to the corruption scandal.
But Janaina said impeachment remained a realistic option.
"Yes, it has to be," she said. "It's our last hope."
Credit: CNN
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