(ATR) The president of Brazil who helped deliver the Olympics is expelled from office.
The Brazilian senate voted to remove Rousseff from office this morning with 61 for impeachment and 20 against, ending a drawn-out impeachment process. Rousseff was convicted for budgetary manipulation to cover an upcoming shortfall. She is now barred from running for elected office for eight years.
Rousseff’s Workers Party had been instrumental in bringing numerous large sporting events to Brazil including the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. Estimates say the government spent nearly $20 billion in financing these events.
The federal government was in charge of World Cup preparations which left white elephant stadiums in Brasilia, Cuiaba, and Manaus. The city of Rio de Janeiro took over control of Olympic preparations during a shakeup of responsibilities in 2012.
Rousseff’s predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was mainly responsible for bringing the mega-events to Brazil. But when his second term ended in 2010, Rousseff became the face inaugurating World Cup stadiums and even some Olympic venues. Rousseff was suspended from office in May, just days after the start of the 2016 Olympic Torch Relay.
Rio 2016 invited Rousseff to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, even though suspended from office. Rousseff declined, saying she would not take part in a "secondary position," to acting president Michel Temer.
Temer has promised to continue to support the Rio 2016 Paralympics, and will attend the upcoming opening ceremony on September 7.
Click here to see a photodesk of Rousseff throughout the years of her involvement in Olympic preparations.
Written by Aaron Bauer
Forgeneral comments or questions, click here.
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about theOlympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribersonly.