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Brazil's Dilma Rousseff is getting her sweet, sweet revenge

Dec 15, 2015, 22:02 IST

Brazil's President, Dilma RousseffReuters

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is getting a taste of sweet revenge this morning.

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On Tuesday morning Brazilian police raided several properties belonging to the leader of the opposition, Eduardo Cunha, according to the BBC.

Cunha is the speaker of Brazil's lower house, and initiated impeachment proceedings against her, which started last week.

The raid on his properties was named "Catilinarias" - a nod to Catiline, a Roman Senator who attempted to overthrow the Republic back in the first century BC.

Since March of last year, Brazil has been rocked by a corruption scandal that reached the highest levels of business and politics. It all centered on Petrobras, the quasi-state oil company which authorities allege Rousseff's ruling party used as a slush fund.

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Think: Bribes, kickbacks, and suitcases of cash that cost Petrobras something around $2 billion worth of revenue.

At the same time, Brazil's commodity driven economy started to tank as prices fell. Rousseff's approval rating now sits at around 10%.

This is part of why the opposition believes Rousseff - who was reelected by a hair in the fall of 2014 - is no longer fit for the presidency. Her opposition is trying to impeach her on the grounds that she lied about the health of the country's budget last year.

Of course, that isn't to say the opposition is not involved in the Petrobras scandal as well. The authorities that moved against Cunha this morning were looking for evidence of his ill-gotten Petrobras gains, according to the BBC. They believe much of it was moved to Swiss bank accounts.

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