Rousseff Future on Hold as Brazilians Take Break From Crisis

Brasilia is becoming something of a ghost town after one of its most tumultuous years in recent memory.

The protagonists in this year’s political crisis are fleeing the nation’s capital to spend summer holidays in their home towns or seaside getaways, leaving behind questions about the fate of the president and congressional leaders embroiled in impeachment and corruption scandals.

Supreme Court justices and legislators are on recess until Feb. 2. Then in the second week of February, they are scheduled to take more time off for Carnival celebrations. That means some important decisions, such as voting on whether to try President Dilma Rousseff in Congress on charges she broke the budget law, probably won’t be made until March, according to political consulting firm Eurasia Group.

“Everyone needs a break,” said Darcisio Perondi, a lower house deputy for the PMDB party and one of Rousseff’s most vocal critics. “It’s been an intense year.”

Read more