Dilma Rousseff's last stand: "Only the people can remove a president."

SAO PAULO – The impeachment process in Brazil will reach its climax Tuesday when the Senate is set to approve the definitive removal of Dilma Rousseff as president. The suspended head of state took the stand at her impeachment trial (she and her allies prefer to call it a "coup") in the Senate this Monday and delivered a last-ditch defense to prevent her final removal from office – a historic speech retracing from her point of view the heated political scenario of the past few months in Brazil.

It may have been Rousseff's final act as president of Brazil, but it was worth watching.

“Don’t expect from me the obliging silence of cowards,” she clamored with the conviction of only those who fear nothing – whether by innocence or shamelessness.

Dilma Rousseff entered the Senate with the usual Brazilian disregard for punctuality. Scheduled for 9 am, she arrived five minutes late (which, really, is perfectly fine by our standards). She was greeted by her allies and many protesters and social activists, who chanted for her: "Dilma is a warrior of the Brazilian people." The crowd turned against her as soon as she passed the doors of the Senate.

It was expected. Rousseff and her allies from the Workers Party (PT) know it is almost impossible to avoid impeachment. She is widely expected to lose. Her opponents need two-thirds of the 81-member Senate, or 54 votes, to convict her – and it seems like they already have them. Rousseff went to the Senate not to win her case, but to make a stand.

“I’ve never betrayed myself, forgotten my past to receive favors in the future,” she started, in a clear attack on her opponents.

"I have honored my commitments to democracy and the rule of law. I am going to look in your eyes and I will say with the serenity of someone who has nothing to hide that I haven't committed any crimes."

Rousseff didn't bring any new argument to bear and did not bother with the details of the illegal tax maneuvers she's accused of, preferring a long discourse on the political nature of the attack against her.

To Rousseff, her impeachment is a new episode in an old Latin American saga: whenever elections frustrate the interests of the economic élite, conspiracies are born and coups are staged. She compared herself to Getúlio Vargas and Jo?o Goulart, two presidents who were violently removed from power. (Fun Fact: Vargas, whom Rousseff cited as an example of democracy, imposed a 15-year dictatorship, known as "the Estado Novo." Actually, it's not that funny.)

Then, Dilma turned to emotions. She talked about the tortures she suffered during the military dictatorship and her fight against cancer. "Twice I have faced death," she reminded the audience, adding in a corny yet emotional note: "Now I am afraid for the death of democracy."

Dilma Rousseff is accused of having committed fiscal crimes against the public administration, but she argues she only did it to ensure the survival of her government's social programs. Both former presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Fernando Henrique Cardoso used similar methods, but only she has faced trial. 

Yes, it is true that her administration wasn't doing so well and that public opinion was not exactly by her side, she concedes, but that's what elections are for.

"The people – and only the people – can remove a president, in elections and based on their body of work."

And that was Rousseff's final point: to her, the impeachment process is in fact an indirect election. “Vote for me, vote for democracy,” she told senators. It won't be enough. But Dilma Rousseff, the first woman to be (twice) elected president of Brazil, had her last shining moment. It was beautiful to watch.

Why is Dilma Rousseff being impeached?

Long story short: Rousseff is being tried for allegedly having committed "fiscal pedaling" – using funds from state-owned banks to plug holes in the national budget without Congressional approval. Her adversaries say she doctored the federal budget to hide the severity of Brazil’s economic crisis; Rousseff's team claims she only did it to keep her social programs running. The whole process began in late 2015.

What's next?

If Rousseff loses the vote, as is widely expected, Michel Temer, the interim president and former vice president, will be president until the end of the current term, in 2018. The verdict is expected to be announced on Tuesday or Wednesday.