Ghostly emptiness haunts Rousseff's offices before impeachment

A ghostly emptiness haunted the normally bustling surrounds of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's offices Wednesday in the final hours before the Senate was expected to suspend her for an impeachment trial.

Even though the Senate was still deliberating before its vote and even though Rousseff has vowed to fight tooth and nail to keep the presidency, the mood in the heart of Brasilia was that her era was already over.

Praca dos Tres Poderes, the huge Brasilia square where the executive building, the Supreme Court and Congress are all located, was eerily deserted after police cut off access.

Four-lane avenues were silent, the tarmac shimmering in the intense heat of the capital. Apart from a trickle of people near the huge buildings and knots of police standing at the entrance points, the only people around were solitary figures, sometimes using umbrellas to shelter from the fierce sun as they crossed the concrete expanse.

Two guards in ceremonial uniforms with blue coats and white trousers stood silently outside Rousseff's offices in the Palacio do Planalto. The car park was nearly empty and just a few government employees came and went.

"The mood is very sad in there," said a woman who works in Rousseff's office, asking not to be named, as she walked in for what will likely be one of her last days in government.

"Many of us are looking for new jobs. We don't want to serve under the vice president," she said, referring to Michel Temer, who will take over if Rousseff is suspended. "There's a feeling of apprehension about what will happen to us."

Rousseff has already removed her family photos and books from her office, according to Brazilian media reports, and is now considering whether to make her final departure from the building quietly or with a defiant flourish accompanied by crowds of supporters.

- Anger -

Over in the Senate, journalists mobbed passing senators in the warren of corridors -- and the politicians took full advantage of their time at the center of public attention to argue for or against Rousseff's ouster.

The anti-Rousseff camp seemed near certain to get sufficient votes during the night to suspend her for six months and launch a trial on charges that she broke budget accounting rules.

Out in the street, though, even those angry at Rousseff said there would be little to celebrate if Temer, as expected, takes power on Thursday.

A huge metal barricade to separate rival protesters was erected on the grassy mall stretching out from Congress, a chilling symbol of the deep political damage already wreaked by the conflict.

Early Wednesday there were almost no protesters, making the empty esplanade and its wall even grimmer looking than usual.

One early arrival on the pro-impeachment side of the wall, 59-year-old seamstress Sulineide Rodrigues, said that getting rid of Rousseff will not solve Brazil's problems with corruption and mismanagement.

"We don't think Temer will be any better," she said. "But you know what we'll do? We'll keep coming back and keep having impeachments until there's someone there who listens to us Brazilians."

Andre Rhouglas, 55, who was holding up posters calling for prosecution of Rousseff and Temer, echoed that pessimism.

"They all rob the same," said Rhouglas, who described himself as "a failed businessman."

"The whole country has failed," he said.

- Tension -

On the empty Praca dos Tres Poderes, even the policemen assigned to keeping citizens away from the heart of government seemed confused and angry, illustrating the depth of rancor in a country where corruption has undermined faith in democracy.

One group of five officers got into a shouting match with a man they tried to stop jogging along a road they were meant to keep closed.

"That's abuse of power!" the man yelled at them repeatedly, finally succeeding in getting past.

Soon the police were arguing among themselves over the fairness of the impeachment process, which Rousseff has described as a coup d'etat by opponents unable to defeat her in elections.

"Tell me one thing she's done, tell me that," an officer said.

"She did the accounting tricks," a comrade replied.

"But what were they -- can you even explain?" the first one shot back.

Denilson Peres, a public health official near Brazil's border with Uruguay who was visiting Brasilia on business, said he opposed impeachment but that the barricaded government square symbolized how there would now be no return.

"It's a done deal, inevitable," he said. "Tomorrow she already won't be president of Brazil."