Legal overthrow of Dilma Rousseff is no indicator of stability in Brazil

If Dilma Rousseff is impeached, she will be the 18th elected Latin American president since 1985, excluding Haiti, forced to leave office by means other than the ballot box, says Gretchen Helmke.

Latin America was synonymous with political instability throughout the 20th century. While the spectre of military coups faded in the 1980s, yet political crises — like the one now engulfing Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff —still plague the region.

If Rousseff loses her looming impeachment battle over claims of illegal accounting, she will be the 18th elected Latin American president since 1985 (excluding Haiti) forced to leave office by means other than the ballot box. And the second Brazilian president since Fernando Collor de Mello resigned under threat of impeachment in 1992.