Brazil’s ousted and incoming leaders go from allies to foes

SAO PAULO – President Dilma Rousseff and Vice-President Michel Temer once had a political marriage of convenience. From different parties, they ran on the same presidential ticket and served together for more than five years.

But when a measure to impeach Rousseff was introduced in Congress last year, fissures between them went public. Rousseff has accused Temer of leading the push to oust her, accusations he has denied. With Wednesday’s 61-20 Senate vote to permanently remove Rousseff, Temer will serve the rest of her term, through 2018.

Here is a look at the careers of the allies-turned-enemies:

___

OUSTED PRESIDENT DILMA ROUSSEFF

Rousseff, 68, was Brazil’s first female president. She was born in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte to a Bulgarian immigrant father and a Brazilian schoolteacher mother.

Rousseff first got involved in politics while opposing the 1964-1985 dictatorship as a militant of the Palmares Revolutionary Armed Vanguard.

She was arrested and imprisoned in 1970 on charges she belonged to an organization that robbed banks and committed murders. Rousseff has said she was never participated in armed conflict. She was tortured for more than 20 days and spent nearly three years in jail. She was released in 1973.

Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Rousseff’s predecessor and mentor, in 2003 appointed her as Mines and Energy Minister. She also chaired the board of directors of state-owned oil company, Petrobras, and became Silva’s chief of staff two years later.

She was elected Brazil’s president in 2010 with Silva’s backing. Her running mate was Michel Temer, from the centrist Brazilian Democratic Movement Party.

Four years later, she was re-elected to a second four-year term.

As the economy worsened, hundreds of thousands took to the streets in early 2015, with many demanding her ouster and that of her left-leaning Workers’ Party.

Rousseff has been married and divorced twice, and has an adult daughter.

___

INCOMING PRESIDENT MICHEL TEMER

Temer was born in the city of Tiete, in the southeastern state of Sao Paulo, the youngest of eight children. His parents were Lebanese immigrants.

Temer left Tiete at age 16 to conclude his high school studies in the city of Sao Paulo. He earned a law degree in 1963 from the University of Sao Paulo, and a Ph.D. in law in 1974 from the Catholic University of Sao Paulo.

He has written several books on a variety of legal issues and is considered an expert in constitutional law.

From 1984-1986 and from 1993-1994, Temer was the head of the State of Sao Paulo’s Public Safety Department. He also served twice as the state’s Attorney General.

He belongs to the centrist Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, known less for a specific ideological stance than for its skill at backroom deal making. He was the speaker of the lower Chamber of Deputies for three consecutive terms. He was Rousseff’s running mate during her successful presidential run in 2010, then again in 2014.

The 75-year-old is married to 33-year-old Marcela Tedeschi Temer, a former beauty pageant contestant. They have one son.

Temer has four other children from previous marriages.