HUNDREDS of thousands of protesters marched across Brazil on Thursday to oppose ongoing legalistic efforts to oust the Workers’ Party government.

Trade unions, students and social movements took part in pro-democracy demonstrations in 56 cities across 20 of Brazil’s states and even overseas — in Paris, Munich, Barcelona and the Portuguese city of Coimbra.

The protests were in support of President Dilma Rousseff, who is facing calls for her impeachment over the multimillion “Car Wash” bribery scandal at state oil firm Petrobras, despite her not being implicated in any crime.
Her predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva led a march by 100,000 people in the capital Brasilia.

The right-wing opposition is pinning its hopes on Vice-President Michel Temer, whose Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) walked out of the coalition government earlier this week, taking over from Ms Rousseff.

In the financial capital Sao Paolo, CUT union president Douglas Izzo vowed: “We will not recognise an eventual interim government led by Michel Temer.”

He said a “Temer exit” would be “an underhanded trick on the part of coup plotters,” warning that a new right-wing coalition including the PMDB would be disastrous for workers’ rights and social programmes.

Mr da Silva won a small victory on Thursday when the Supreme Court took over a corruption case against him from Judge Sergio Moro, who is also leading the Petrobras case.

The federal prosecutor’s office said banker Joseph Safra, the world’s richest, was being charged with offering 15.3 million reals (£3m) in bribes to revenue auditors to waive his fines for tax-dodging.