Sao Paolo - The estimate for the number of demonstrators in Brazil demanding the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff has risen to 866,000. These include protestors in Sao Paolo. Ms Rousseff has been accused of failing to stamp out corruption and has been indirectly involved in cases of bribery involving people close to her.

These include the publicly owned Petrobras oil company, headed by Ms Rousseff before she took over from her predecessor, Inacio Lula da Silva - himself under investigation in another case - and funds obtained by the Workers' Party, which she led, whose treasurer was arrested in April. Crowds of people chanting "Dilma Out" and singing the national anthem have swarmed through Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo. This was the third round of protests against Ms Rousseff, after around 1 million people demonstrated in March and 600,000 in April, just a few months after she won her second term with a slim 3.3 percent margin.
  Ms Rousseff, once extremely popular and now supported by a mere 8 percent of the population, has said that those demanding her impeachment were in fact hoping for a coup. This is a possible scenario given that she is a former victim of the military dictatorship, and the tight grip the army has on the country.
  The situation hasn't been helped by the country's deteriorating financial situation. Brazil once stood for the first letter in the BRICS acronym for emerging powers (Brazil, Russia, India, South Africa). However, the world's seventh largest economy is falling into recession due to the collapse in demand for raw materials and commodities, and its debt rating is close to junk bond status. President of the Chamber of Deputies Eduardo Cunha, a key figure in the fragile government coalition and himself under investigation for allegedly accepting a 5 million dollar bribe, left the Workers' Party in July and is said to be debating whether or not to set the impeachment process in motion. (AGI)