I
will make a statement to the press, so
it’s not an interview, it is a
statement.
I
wanted first to tell you, and say also,
to all Brazilians, that the impeachment
process was opened by the Senate, and
ordered the suspension of my term of
office for a maximum period of 180 days.
I
was elected president by 54 million
Brazilian citizens, and it is in this
condition, the condition of a President
elected by 54 million, that I address
you at this decisive moment for
Brazilian democracy and our future as a
nation.
What is at stake in the impeachment
process is not only my mandate, what is
at stake is the respect to the polls,
the sovereign will of the Brazilian
people and the Constitution.
What is at stake are the achievements of
the last thirteen years, the gains of
the poorest people, as well as the gains
of the middle class. The protection of
children, young people access to
Universities and to Technical Schools.
The value of the minimum wage, doctors
attending to the population. The
realization of the dream of home
ownership with “Minha Casa, Minha Vida”.
What is at stake is also the great
finding of Brazil, the pre-salt.
What is at stake is the future of the
country, the opportunity and hope to
move forward forever more.
Before the Senate decision, I want once
again to clarify the facts and report
the risks to the country of a fraudulent
impeachment: a real coup.
Since I was elected, the opposition,
dissatisfied, called recount, tried to
nullify the elections and then went on
to openly conspiring for my impeachment.
They plunged the country in a permanent
state of political instability,
preventing the recovery of the economy,
with the sole purpose of taking by force
what they did not win at the polls.
My
government has been the target of
intense and incessant sabotage.
The clear objective has been preventing
me to rule and thus forge the
environment conducive to the coup.
When an elected president is revoked on
charges of a crime he did not commit,
the name given to it in the democratic
world is not impeachment: it is a coup.
I
have not committed a crime of
responsibility, there is no reason for
impeachment proceedings, I do not have
accounts abroad, I never received
bribes, I never condoned corruption.
This process is a fragile process,
legally inconsistent, an unfair process,
initiated against an honest and innocent
person.
It
is the largest of the brutalities that
can be committed to any human being: to
punish him for a crime he did not
commit.
There is no more devastating injustice
than to condemn the innocent.
Injustice is irreparable evil.
This legal farce, that I am facing, is
due to the fact that, as president, I
never accepted blackmail of any kind.
I
may have made mistakes but have not
committed crimes. I am being judged
unfairly by having done all that the law
authorizes me to do.
The acts I practiced were legal acts,
correct, necessary acts, acts of
government.
Similar acts were performed by the
previous Brazilian presidents, before
me.
It
was not a crime in their time, and also
is not a crime now.
They accuse me of having published six
supplementation Decrees, six additional
credit Decrees and, in so doing, have
committed crime against the Budget Law –
LOA.
It
is false because the Decrees followed
authorizations provided by law.
They treat as a crime an everyday
management act.
They accuse me of delaying payments of
“Plano Safra”, it is false.
I
have not determined anything about it.
The law does not require my
participation in the implementation of
this Plan (“Plano Safra”).
My
accusers can not even say which unlawful
act I have practiced.
What act? Which act?
Moreover, nothing was left to be paid,
or any debt remained.
Never in a democracy, the legitimate
mandate of an elected president can be
stopped because of legitimate acts of
budget management.
Brazil can not be the first to do this.
I
would also like to address the entire
population of my country saying that the
coup aims not only to revoke me, to
remove a president elected by the vote
of millions of Brazilians – direct vote
in a fair election.
To
dismiss my government, they want
actually prevent the execution of the
program that was chosen by the
majoritarian votes of the 54 million
Brazilians.
The coup d’état threatens to ravage not
only democracy, but also the
achievements that the population reached
in recent decades.
All this time, I have been also a
zealous guarantor of the democratic rule
of law.
My
government has not committed any
repressive act against social movements,
against collective protests, against
protesters of any political position.
The risk, the greatest risk to the
country at this time is to be directed
by a government without any votes.
A
government that was not elected by
direct vote of the population, a
government that will have the legitimacy
to propose and implement solutions to
the challenges of Brazil.
A
government may be tempted to crack down
on protesting against him.
A
government that is born of a coup.
A
fraudulent impeachment.
Born of a kind of indirect election.
A
government that is, himself, a big
reason for the continuing political
crisis in our country.
So, I tell you, all of you, I’m proud to
be the first woman elected president of
Brazil.
I
am proud to be the first woman elected
president of Brazil.
In
those years, I have exercised my mandate
in a dignified and honest way, honoring
the votes I received.
On
behalf of those votes, and on behalf of
all the people of my country, I will
fight with all legal instruments
available to me to exercise my mandate
until the end of my presidencial term,
31st December, 2018.
Destiny always got me many challenges,
many great challenges, some appeared to
me insuperable, but I managed to
overcome them.
I
have suffered the unspeakable pain of
torture.
The agonizing pain of the disease.
And now I suffer again, the equally
unspeakable pain of injustice.
What hurts the most right now is
injustice.
What hurts most is to realize that I am
the victim of a legal farce and
politics.
But I do not subside, I look back and
see everything we did.
I
look forward and see everything we still
need and can do.
The most important is that I can look at
myself and see the face of someone who,
even marked by time, have the strength
to defend ideas and rights.
I
fought my whole life for democracy.
I
learned to trust the capacity of
struggle of our people. I have lived
many defeats, and lived big wins.
I
confess that I never imagined it would
be necessary to fight back against a
coup in my country.
Our young democracy, made of struggles,
made of sacrifices, even deaths, does
not deserve it.
In
recent months, our people took to the
streets. It took to the streets in
defense of more rights, more advances.
That’s why I’m sure that people will
know to say no to the coup.
Our people are wise, and has historical
experience.
Brazilians who are contrary to the coup,
regardless of party positions, to all of
them I make a call: remain mobilized,
united and at peace.
The struggle for democracy has no end
date.
It
is permanent struggle, which requires us
constant dedication.
The fight for democracy, I repeat, has
no end date.
The fight against the coup is long, it
is a fight that can be won, and we will
win.
This victory depends on us all.
Let’s show the world that there are
millions of supporters of democracy in
our country.
I
know, and many here know, especially our
people know that history is made through
fighting.
And it is always worth fighting for
democracy.
Democracy is the right side of history.
We
will never give up, I will never give up
fighting.
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