Friends of Brazil's Rousseff launch crowdfunding effort

Dilma Rousseff is getting a little help from her friends.

Two leftist supporters of the suspended Brazilian president on Wednesday launched a project to crowdfund her campaign against her removal from office.

Rousseff, 68, was suspended last month after lawmakers voted to hold an impeachment trial against her over allegations she misused state funds.

Called "Day for Democracy - All for Dilma" and mounted on the crowdfunding platform Catarse.me -- whose motto is "Collective funding for everyone" -- the campaign racked up pledges of $20,377 during its first four hours.

That amount came in 747 micro-grants that started at around $3.

The project aims to ease the burden of financial restrictions imposed by the government of interim president Michel Temer, making it difficult for Rousseff to travel the country to raise support ahead of a Senate vote in late August on whether to permanently remove her from office.

The leftist leader, who continues to live in the presidential palace outside the capital Brasilia, accuses Temer -- her vice president -- of mounting a parliamentary coup d'etat.

The interim government has barred her from using official planes, paying for hotels and has even restricted food and other expenses.

"We found it important to open an account where people could make donations and provide resources for the president to use for her trips," Guiomar Silva Lopez said in a video embedded on the crowdfunding website.

A 72-year-old doctor, Lopez once shared a prison cell with Rousseff where the future president was imprisoned and tortured when she was a guerrilla opposing the country's right-wing military dictatorship.

Lopez led the crowdfunding initiative with Maria Celeste Martinez, 74, another leftist opposition member during the 1970s.

The project aims to raise $154,000.

All donors will receive the same acknowledgement regardless of donation size: a mention on the website Dilma.com.br, an autographed digital photo and a video of thanks.

Source: AFP