The Brazilian Senate began [press release, in Portuguese] the impeachment trial of President Dilma Rousseff on Thursday. The suspended president is scheduled to testify on Monday and has been reported [NPR report] to be increasingly isolated. Brazilian Vice President Michel Temer would become the country’s president through 2018 in the event that 54 senators vote to impeach Rousseff. The media, political insiders, and supporters of the embattled president predict [WP report] that she will be removed from office next week.

Brazil’s political establishment has been in turmoil as many powerful politicians have been brought to the center of embarrassing corruption investigation and trials. Earlier this month, the Senate of Brazil officially indicted [JURIST report] President Dilma Rousseff, marking the beginning of an impeachment trial against the embattled president. Also earlier this month, a Brazilian senate committee voted [JURIST report] 14-5 to continue impeachment proceedings against the suspended president who is charged with failing to “comply with tax and budget laws on the issues of additional credit decrees”. Last month, a Brazilian judge announced [JURIST report] that former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will stand trial for obstruction of justice. In June, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights reported [JURIST report] that Brazil must place more emphasis on remedying and preventing business-related human right violations.