SAO PAULO: Supporters of embattled President Dilma Rousseff marched across Brazil on Wednesday protesting what they say is a "coup" aimed at toppling the leftist leader by impeachment.
"There will be no coup!" chanted thousands of marchers in downtown Sao Paulo, most of them wearing the red shirts of Rousseff's Worker's Party (PT).
Pro-government rallies, organized in part by Brazil's powerful labor unions, were also held in other cities including Rio de Janeiro and the capital Brasilia.
"I'm here to protest the political aberration that is seeking to topple a democratically elected president," said attorney Clarise De Almeida, 24, who waved a pro-Rousseff placard.
Any talk of "coup" raises the specter of Brazil's 1964-1985 military dictatorship.Rousseff, a former leftist guerrilla, was imprisoned for two years and tortured during the dictatorship.
"It's the elites that want to take power again," added Vera Alice Demetrio, who was wrapped in a flag from Rousseff's last campaign. Showing his support at the event was Uruguay's popular former president Jose Mujica.
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