Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff to battle impeachment moves in Congress

Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has dug in for a long battle with a deeply fragmented Congress after impeachment proceedings were introduced against her in the lower house.

The timing couldn’t be worse for the leader of Latin America’s largest economy.

Brazil is facing its deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression as consumer demand and commodity prices have plummeted, and a sprawling kickback scandal at state-run oil company Petrobras has cast a pall over the entire business community and frozen investments.

Speaker Eduardo Cunha introduced impeachment proceedings on Wednesday, citing a court’s finding that Rousseff’s administration violated fiscal responsibility laws by using money from state-run banks to fill budget gaps and pay for social programs.

Rousseff’s Workers’ Party has indicated that it will argue before the Supreme Court that Cunha exceeded his powers as house speaker.