Michel Temer admits impeachment of Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff was a coup

Brasilia, September 19 (RHC)-- Brazil's former President Michel Temer acknowledged that the impeachment of former president Dilma Rousseff, Worker's Party leader, was indeed a coup d'etat.

During a TV interview watched by millions, the man who ruled Brazil from August 2016 to December 2019 claimed that he never supported the "coup" which led to the impeachment of Rousseff, a leftist economist who held the Presidency from 2011 until her removal.  "I never supported or committed to the coup," Temer confessed and added that he tried to prevent the political trial against Dilma.

Brazil's Congress opened a political trial against Dilma Rousseff in 2016 due to alleged irregular management of public accounts.  After her departure from the Presidency, she was replaced by her vice president, Michel Temer.

On the TV interview, the 78-year-old politician tried to defend himself against accusations according to which he would have participated in the "organization" of several actions which led to Rousseff's dismissal.  "I couldn't organize a coup because the government had gotten very bad," Temer said.

Michel Temer became vice-president after participating in the 2011 elections, a political process which the Workers' Party won comfortably.  After the coup against Dilma, he distanced himself from the Brazilian left, which since then has denounced him as being part of the coup plot.

Once he came to the Presidency, Temer became the center of a corruption scandal.  However, Brazilian justice, which was already controlled by the far-right, did not prosecute him, arguing that the alleged criminal acts were committed before reaching office.

On January 1, 2019, Michel Temer handed over power to Jair Bolsonaro, a former captain who is currently ruling Brazil.