Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Protest against Brazil's President Temer turns violent

Angry demonstrators in Brasilia have started a fire inside the ministry of agriculture and have damaged several other ministerial buildings.

Brazilian authorities estimate around 35,000 are marching in the capital.

Troops are being deployed to defend government buildings and there is a heavy police presence on the streets.

Protesters are demanding the resignation of President Michel Temer, fresh elections, and for economic reform plans to be withdrawn.

Mr Temer has faced new corruption allegations in the last week, and is facing growing pressure to step down.

According to reports, several ministries are being evacuated because of the protests - but not before the agriculture ministry was damaged.

"There was an invasion of the ministry's private entrance. They lit a fire in a room, broke photos in a gallery of ex-ministers and confronted police," a spokesman told the AFP news agency.

There have been clashes between police and demonstrators and local media report one person has been injured and several have been detained.

Planned demonstrations began peacefully around midday before clashes with police erupted.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas grenades during clashes

Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at some demonstrators, and video footage showed other members of the crowd smashing windows or setting makeshift barriers afire.

Last week, testimony released by the country's supreme court alleged that Mr Temer had taken millions of dollars in bribes since 2010.

The plea-bargain testimony came from bosses of a giant meat-packing firm.

In response, Mr Temer vowed to prove his innocence and remain as president while so doing.

On Saturday, he filed a petition to have the investigation suspended, but reversed that decision on Tuesday.

Mr Temer took office a year ago after his predecessor, President Dilma Rousseff, was impeached.</s>BRASÍLIA - Brazilian President Michel Temer said Monday that he was “naive” to hold the late-night meeting which sparked an explosive corruption scandal, but insisted he’d done nothing wrong and wouldn’t resign.

Temer, who faces multiple impeachment demands, told Folha newspaper he had innocently stumbled into the crisis threatening to bring him down just over a year since he replaced impeached president Dilma Rousseff.

“Naivety. I was naive,” he said.

The scandal erupted last week when Globo newspaper revealed a secret audio recording in which Joesley Batista, an executive from the JBS meatpacking giant, can allegedly be heard getting the president’s green light for paying hush money to a politician imprisoned for corruption.

With Temer placed under investigation for obstruction of justice and corruption, opponents are demanding his head.

Impeachment petitions are piling up. The highest-profile request was filed over the weekend by the Brazilian bar association — a stinging rebuke for Temer, a constitutional lawyer.

Meanwhile, Temer is scrambling to hold together his center-right PMDB party’s ruling coalition to prevent impeachment and fend off pressure to resign.

So far, only smaller parties have jumped ship, but the PMDB’s biggest ally, the PSDB social democrats, is wavering.

And on Wednesday, the Supreme Court is due to rule on Temer’s request for the probe into his alleged obstruction of justice to be suspended due to supposed tampering of the incriminating tape recording.

The crisis - linked to a gigantic corruption investigation targeting scores of top politicians - threatens Brazil’s attempts to exit the trauma of last year’s Rousseff impeachment and a severe recession.

For now, most of the action is taking place behind the scenes.

A source with the presidency told AFP that Temer’s coalition is holding. “The president is very conscious that he did nothing illegal and various leaders said they are standing firm,” said the source, who asked not to be identified.

The vital PSDB had been due to meet with other coalition partners on Sunday, reportedly to consider the announcement of their mass departure. But the meeting was cancelled, giving Temer a breathing space.

On Monday, senior PSDB member and former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso said that the party’s initial impulse to abandon Temer immediately should be rethought.

“I think it would be opportunism to go running,” he told TV Bandeirantes. The PSDB “has responsibility.”

However, if evidence against Temer is verified, “he would have a moral obligation to resign,” Cardoso said.

The key evidence is the now infamous recording of Temer and Batista.</s>1,500 soldiers deployed in Brasilia are removed after accusations President Michel Temer only trying to cling to power.

Brazil's president canceled an order that sent 1,500 soldiers onto the streets of the capital following criticism the move was excessive and merely an effort to maintain power amid increasing calls for his resignation.

The troops were deployed late Wednesday following a day of bloody clashes between police and protesters demanding President Michel Temer's ouster amid allegations against him of corruption.

Fires broke out in two ministries and several were evacuated. Protesters also set barricades ablaze and vandalised government buildings.

The issue of troops on the streets is sensitive in a country that lived under military rule from 1964-1985.

In a decree, Temer revoked the order on Thursday to deploy the soldiers "considering the halt to acts of destruction and violence and the subsequent re-establishment of law and order".

On Thursday afternoon, soldiers began to leave their posts in Brasilia.

Defense Minister Raul Jungmann insisted the deployment was necessary "to stop the barbarity" of the riots.

"We had no choice in order to prevent casualties among public servants and the destruction of public heritage," Jungmann said.

Images in national media, meanwhile, appeared to show police officers firing weapons, and the Secretariat of Public Security said it was investigating. In all, 49 people were wounded, including one by a live round. The person was shot in the jaw and was sedated and in serious condition Thursday evening, the Secretariat of Health said.

Temer's popularity has been in freefall since he took office a little more than a year ago after his predecessor was impeached and removed. Some Brazilians consider his presidency illegitimate because of the way he came to power, and his efforts to pass a series of economic reforms to cap the budget, loosen labour laws and reduce pension benefits have made him even more unpopular.

In addition, several of his advisers have been linked to Brazil's big corruption investigation, known as Operation Car Wash.

As part of the Car Wash probe, Temer now faces allegations that he endorsed the paying of hush money to a former lawmaker who has been jailed for corruption. Brazil's highest court is investigating him for alleged obstruction of justice and involvement in passive corruption after a recording seemed to capture his approval of the bribe. Temer denies wrongdoing.

READ MORE: Michel Temer accused of obstruction of justice

Many Brazilians want him out one way or another and are calling for him to resign or be impeached. The demands for his resignation have heated up since the release of the recording and came to a head in Wednesday's protest, when 45,000 demonstrators took to the streets.

Opposition lawmakers have submitted several requests in Congress for Temer's impeachment.

The use of troops in the nation's capital is particularly fraught in Brazil, where many still remember the repression of the country's 1964-1985 military dictatorship. Images of soldiers patrolling Brasilia increased the impression that Temer is struggling to maintain control and further ratcheted up pressure on him.</s>BRASÍLIA: Brazilian President Michel Temer warned opponents on Monday he will not go without a fight as he won more breathing space in a corruption crisis sparking calls for his resignation.

“If they want to, then they have to force me out, because if I resign, that is an admission of guilt,” he said in an interview with the Folha newspaper.

Temer, who faces multiple impeachment demands, told Folha he had been “naive” in stumbling into the crisis that could bring him down just over a year since he replaced impeached president Dilma Rousseff. But he again insisted he had done nothing wrong.

The scandal erupted last week when Globo newspaper revealed a secret audio recording in which Joesley Batista, an executive from the JBS meatpacking giant, can allegedly be heard getting the president’s green light for paying hush money to a politician imprisoned for corruption.

With Temer placed under investigation for obstruction of justice and corruption, opponents are demanding his head.

Impeachment petitions are piling up. The highest-profile request was filed over the weekend by the Brazilian bar association—a stinging rebuke for Temer, a constitutional lawyer.

But Temer appeared to win new breathing space on Monday, slowing what had been starting to look like dangerously growing momentum for his ouster.

The Supreme Court had been due to rule on Wednesday on a request by Temer for the investigation to be suspended pending analysis of what the president claims was the doctoring of the recording at the center of the case.

Parties allied to Temer’s center-right PMDB had been reportedly waiting for that ruling to decide whether or not to jump ship — potentially bringing down the government of Latin America’s biggest country.

However, Temer’s lawyers said that they no longer are asking for a suspension because they are satisfied that the court is making analysis of the disputed recording a priority.

Brazilian media reported that Temer’s team is now confident that the recording was doctored and will not be considered admissible as evidence.

The bar association and others argue, however, that there is enough, even without the supposedly damning audio, to bring Temer down.

The crisis – linked to a gigantic corruption investigation targeting scores of top politicians—threatens Brazil’s attempts to exit the trauma of last year’s Rousseff impeachment and a severe recession.

Prosecutors have now recommended corruption and money laundering charges against former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a case linked to the ownership of a country house.

If the charges are accepted by the judge overseeing the sprawling corruption investigation, it would be the sixth criminal case against Lula, a left-wing icon who ruled from 2003 to 2010.

For Temer, Eurasia Group risk analysts issued a note describing his fall as “likely to be quick,” with only a 30 percent chance of survival.

For now, most of the action is taking place behind the scenes.

Temer is scrambling to hold together his center-right PMDB party’s ruling coalition to prevent impeachment and fend off pressure to resign.

So far, only smaller parties have quit, but the PMDB’s biggest ally, the PSDB social democrats, has wavered repeatedly.

However, the national president of the party, Tasso Jereissati, was quoted by the noticias.uol.com news site saying that a decision had now been taken to stand by Temer until his legal situation was clearer.</s>Embattled Brazilian President Michel Temer says he will only leave office if forced out because stepping down would be an admission of guilt in a corruption scandal that has led to growing calls for his ouster.

In an interview published Monday in the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper, Temer said he is innocent and will remain in office with the help of his shaken congressional base until December 2018 so he can go forward with austerity measures and unpopular reforms.

"I will not resign. If they want, force me out, because if I resign that will be a declaration of guilt," Temer said.

Also on Monday, ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was charged for the third time by prosecutors before judge Sergio Moro. Prosecutors say they believe Silva committed crimes of corruption and money laundering because of his frequent use of a farmhouse outside Sao Paulo. It is now up to Moro, who is hailed by many as an anti-corruption hero in Brazil, to decide whether the former president will stand trial in the case.

Silva denies any wrongdoing and said the farmhouse belonged to one his friends.

With respect to Brazil's current president, the supreme court has opened investigations into Temer for allegedly obstructing justice, passive corruption and being a member of a criminal organization. The move follows release of an audiotape that appears to show him endorsing the payment of hush money to an imprisoned former ally in exchange for silence.

Businessman Joesley Batista, who made the recording, also said in plea bargain testimony that he paid Temer and his allies millions in bribes and illegal campaign funds.

Temer has also been accused of negligence for failure to take any measures after hearing Batista say he was paying bribes to two judges and a prosecutor. The meeting with Batista, the owner of giant meatpacker JBS, took place in March.

In the interview, Temer also said he was "naive to welcome a person (like Batista)" at the vice presidential palace in the middle of the night without any prior information published in his official schedule. The business mogul was already under three legal investigations at the time.

The pressure on Temer increased over the weekend with some allied parties leaving his base in Congress and Brazil's prestigious bar association deciding to push for the president's impeachment. Small protests happened in 19 cities nationwide against the embattled leader, whose popularity is currently at 9 percent, according with a recent Datafolha institute poll.

As a result, consultancy Eurasia increased from 20 to 70 percent the chances that Temer will not finish his term.

Later on Monday, Brazil's top court decided to wait for Batista to hand over to federal police the equipment used to record the president and the original audio obtained from their conversation.

Temer's lawyers welcomed the court's decision to audit the material, which gives more the president more time to organize his defense.

The president insists the tapes should be audited before the investigations proceed. A forensics expert hired by Temer said in a press conference that the recording has "70 moments of obscurity" and called it "useless" as evidence.

Claudio Lamachia, the head of Brazil's bar association, kept the pressure on the president, though, criticizing Temer for welcoming Batista to the palace in the middle of the night and promising to push for his impeachment regardless of the audios.

The bar association will give to Lower House Speaker Rodrigo Maia later this week its first request for Temer's impeachment. There are already eight requests on Maia's table.</s>
• What are the reasons for the protests?

The protesters want President Michel Temer, who was placed under investigation last week on corruption charges, to resign.

Temer has been on the ropes since allegations that he tried to pay hush money to a jailed politician.
• Why have troops been deployed?

Violence erupted after the crowd, estimated by police at around 35,000 people, marched towards the presidential palace.

Although most of the protesters were peaceful, small groups wearing masks threw stones at police officers and smashed their way into the agriculture ministry.

This led to he government to deploy soldiers in the capital, which sent a psychological shockwave through Brazil, which was tuled by a military dictatorship in the 1980s.

"The question now is that you have demonstrations where you have these black blocs that started destroying a ministry," says Alfredo Vallado, a professor of Latin American geopolitics at Science Po. "The military police that is used in Brazil for this kind of event couldn't control the crowd, that's why the government called the troops. But obviously, in this moment it becomes political, which is why everybody is yelling about it."
• Who is behind the protest?

The demonstration was organised by left-wing groups and trade unions, who were also protesting against austerity measures.

Brazil has been stuck in deep recession for the last two years and also in a state of political instability.

Temer's troubles came just a year after he took over from Workers' Party leader Dilma Rousseff. She was impeached at the time for illegally manipulating government accounts.

"There have been people coming in from all over the country," says Tom Long, a lecturer in international relations at Britain's University of Reading. "A lot of this is probably organic, some of it is supported by opposition parties, but the Fuera Temer [Temera out!] movement has gained such strengh over the last year, so I think a lot of this protest should be seen as happening organically."
• Could these protests lead to Temer's resignation?

For now the president is trying to shore up his congressional alliance to resist calls for his impeachment. He claims to have done nothing wrong and says he will not resign.

But intense negotiations are going on behind the scenes, analysts say, to find the least traumatic way possible for Temer to be eased out.

"I don't think he will stay," says Sonia Fleury, a political analyst at thinktank FGV. "His situation is very fragile because he has no real support from his coalition. They are trying to find a solution that will gather different political forces and that's not easy."
• What happens if Temer resigns?

"There's two possibilities: either indirect elections, which would be held in Congress where a placeholder president is elected," explains Tom Long. "If Temer is removed because the last elections are cancelled, then that would open up general elections. [Former President] Lula said he would contest them and polls show him in the lead."

For now the only certain thing is that there will be more protests in the coming days and weeks.</s>BRASILIA, May 25 (Reuters) - Brazilian President Michel Temer on Thursday removed federal troops from the streets of the nation's capital, a day after sending in the army to contain violent protests against his scandal-plagued government.

Temer's decision to send armed soldiers to Brasilia on Wednesday provoked an outpouring of criticism in a country with raw memories of its 1964-1985 military dictatorship. And it gave the impression that Temer had lost control of the streets as he and his administration have been besieged by fresh corruption allegations.

"It was an unthinkable decision, totally out of proportion with the situation," Congressman Alessandro Molon, of the opposition Sustainability Network party, told reporters Thursday in the capital. "It shows a fragile government that has its days numbered."

The chaos has undermined Temer's claim to be the best person to provide stability to Latin America's largest nation. And it has weakened his political standing in Congress to the point where leaders of his party say that reforms needed to restore confidence and investment in a stalled economy could be delayed.

Defense Minister Raul Jungmann announced Thursday that Temer had revoked the decision to deploy the army, 17 hours after it was decreed. By midday, after his announcement, the troops were gone.

Hours earlier, soldiers carrying rifles guarded government ministries that had been stoned by protesters the day before. One building had been set on fire.

Jungmann said Brasilia police were overwhelmed by the tens of thousands of demonstrators who gathered to demand Temer's resignation and an end to his unpopular labor and pension reforms.

Jungmann said the army was called in to stop the vandalism that began when demonstrators and police clashed on the grassy esplanade of the capital, where about 50 people were injured.

Wednesday's protests were the most violent in Brasilia since anti-government demonstrations in 2013 and added fuel to a political crisis sparked by allegations that Temer condoned paying off a potential witness in a massive corruption probe.

Temer refused to resign last week after the Supreme Court opened an investigation into bribery allegations made in plea-bargain testimony by billionaire Joesley Batista. Batista is owner of meatpacking giant JBS SA and his allegations came from a conversation he secretly recorded with Temer.

The Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) presented a request on Thursday for Congress to open impeachment proceedings against Temer for failing to take action after listening to Batista detail bribes of authorities.

Fifteen petitions to impeach Temer have been filed since last week, but it is up to the Rodrigo Maia, speaker of Brazil's lower house and a Temer ally, whether they would be put to a vote. Maia has vowed he will not allow it.

Pressure on Temer to leave office comes on the heels of the impeachment of leftist president Dilma Rousseff last year.

But Temer's future is more likely to be decided by Brazil's top electoral court, which could annul the 2014 election victory of the Rousseff-Temer ticket for campaigning with illegal funds when it meets in early June.

Even some of Temer's allies see that as the quickest way to resolve Brazil's crisis.</s>Brazil’s president ordered soldiers to restore order in the country’s capital Wednesday after some government ministries were evacuated during clashes between police and protesters who are seeking the leader’s ouster. Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched to Congress to protest economic reforms that President Michel Temer is pushing through and to demand he step down amid a corruption scandal.

Scuffles between police and protesters who tried to jump a cordon mushroomed into a series of clashes in which officers fired tear gas and pepper spray to contain the crowd. Protesters set fires and used portable toilets as barricades.

Local media captured video images of military police firing pistols into the air. The Secretariat of Public Security issued a statement late Wednesday saying it would investigate the weapons firing, saying that “this procedure is not used in protests.” Earlier, it said one person had been injured by a bullet but give no information on who fired the shot.

A fire broke out in the Ministry of Agriculture, and demonstrators smashed windows and doors at other ministries. Some government agencies were evacuated in response, the president’s office said.

In a brief national address during the unrest, Defense Minister Raul Jungmann said troops were being sent to guard federal buildings, including the presidential palace. The weeklong deployment was authorized by a presidential decree which left open the possibility that soldiers could be used more widely in Brasilia. The decree said Jungmann would decide the scope.

“This mess, this mayhem is unacceptable,” Jungmann said. “President Temer will not allow that.” Jungmann added that soldiers had already entered the Foreign Ministry, and televised images showed troops outside the presidential palace. In all, 1,500 will be deployed, the Defense Ministry said.

Temer is struggling to retain power after the release of a recording that appears to capture him approving hush money for a convicted former lawmaker. Brazil’s top court is investigating him for alleged obstruction of justice and involvement in passive corruption. The president has denied wrongdoing and said he will not resign.

His unusual decision to call in the military could heighten anger against the government if it is seen as the last gasp of a president trying to maintain his hold on power.

“This decree was never used in this context to protect an administration that is politically isolated,” said Newton de Oliveira, a professor and security specialist at Mackenzie University in Rio de Janeiro. He said he thought the supreme court might be called on to evaluate whether the move was constitutional.

Late Wednesday, Temer’s office issued a statement saying the move was necessary after violence had put the lives and safety of public servants at risk. It said the president had determined that using the country’s National Force, an elite police entity, would not have been sufficient. He also denied the move was unusual, it said.

“When order is re-established, the decree will be revoked,” the statement said. “The president of the republic underscores that he will not hesitate to exercise the authority given to his office whenever it is necessary.”

Already, many Brazilians see Temer as illegitimate because he came to office after his predecessor, Dilma Rousseff, was impeached and removed. His popularly only plummeted once he began governing as he tried to pass economic changes meant to jump start the economy, which is in a deep and protracted recession. A series of corruption allegations that have swirled around him and his administration also disillusioned voters.

Now, with the latest allegations against Temer himself, many Brazilians have had enough. In the wake of the announcement on the use of the military, senior officials began distancing themselves from the decision.

“If this government cannot hold itself up, the armed forces will not hold up this government,” said Sen. Renan Calheiros, who is the whip for Temer’s party in the upper house but has increasingly challenged the president.

Rodrigo Maia, the speaker of the lower house of Congress, who had asked Temer to instead use the National Force, called the move “an excess” and said he hoped it wouldn’t last longer than a day. Sen. Romero Juca, a Temer ally, defended the president’s decision, saying: “President Temer brought in the armed forces because a bunch of criminals were setting ministries on fire.”

The pressure on Temer to resign continued to ratchet up Wednesday. Federal police asked the president to submit to questioning, his defense team said in a statement, but a supreme court justice later determined the police did not have the right to do that.

Temer also lost yet another aide when Sandro Mabel resigned Wednesday, saying he needs to spend more time with his family. He is the latest in a string of aides and allies who have resigned or been fired amid corruption allegations.

With Brazil deeply divided and a political crisis deepening, a session of the lower house of Congress became chaotic, with opposition politicians surrounding the speaker’s desk in protest and holding signs saying Congress’ workings should be transparent. The Senate’s session also descended into chaos.

Several lawmakers have submitted requests for Temer’s impeachment to the speaker and Maia has angered them by saying he would take his time to review the requests.

While Congress debated, 35,000 people were marching toward the chamber down a long avenue lined with the main government buildings, including the Supreme Court, the presidential palace and the ministries.

Protesters shouted “Out with Temer!” and carried signs calling for immediate direct presidential elections. If Temer resigned, the Constitution says Congress would elect the next president, who would hold power for the rest of his term, which runs to the end of 2018. But many Brazilians, disgusted with the political class, want to vote themselves.

Protests in Rio de Janeiro against Temer and state austerity measures also descended into chaos, with demonstrators clashing with police.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App now</s>Brasilia: Protesters demanding the resignation of Brazilian President Michel Temer staged running battles with police and set fire to a ministry building in Brasilia on Wednesday, prompting the scandal-hit leader to order the army onto the streets.

Police unleashed volleys of tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets to halt tens of thousands of protesters as they marched towards Congress to call for Temer‘s ouster and an end to his austerity program.

Masked protesters fired powerful fireworks at police, set ablaze furniture in the agriculture ministry, and sprayed anti-Temer graffiti on government buildings.

It was the most violent protest in Brasilia since anti-government demonstrations in 2013 and fueled a political crisis sparked by allegations Temer condoned paying off a potential witness in a massive corruption probe.

The scandal has raised chances Brazil could see a second president fall in less than a year.

Police cordons held back protesters from advancing on the modernistic Congress building where the main ally in Temer‘s coalition, the PSDB party, met to discuss whether to continue backing him and prepare for a post-Temer transition.

One protestor was shot and wounded, police said. Local media reported at least one other demonstrator was seriously injured by a rubber bullet to the face, while another lost part of his hand while trying to throw an explosive device at officers. The city government said 49 people were hurt.

Temer approved a decree allowing army troops to assist police in restoring order in Brasilia for the next week, giving soldiers policing powers and the right to make arrests. His office said Temer turned to the military after police were overwhelmed.

The move brought immediate criticism in a nation where memories of a brutal 1964-85 military dictatorship remain fresh.

“What are they going to do? Intervene and wage war against the people that are out there on the esplanade?” Senator Gleisi Hoffmann of the opposition Workers’ Party said on the Senate floor.

Temer, a former vice president whose government’s approval rating is in the single digits, took office a year ago after former President Dilma Rousseff was impeached for breaking budgetary laws.

Rousseff and her supporters labeled that a “coup” orchestrated by Temer and his allies in an effort to halt a sweeping, three-year corruption probe that has placed scores of sitting politicians under investigation.

Temer defiantly refused to resign last week after the Supreme Court opened an investigation into the hush-money allegations made in plea-bargain testimony by executives at meatpacking giant JBS SA.

The accusations pummelled Brazilian financial markets on doubts Congress would pass government austerity measures meant to pull Brazil out of its worst-ever recession

Temer could be removed from office by Brazil’s top electoral court which meets on June 6 to decide whether to annul the 2014 election victory by the Rousseff-Temer ticket for using illegal money to fund their campaign.

If that happens, Congress would have 30 days to pick a successor to lead Brazil until elections late next year.

The parties of Temer‘s main allies are split over whether to quit his coalition immediately or first agree on a consensus figure to replace him and save his reform agenda. The market-friendly measures are considered vital to restore business credibility and investment needed to end a two-year recession.

The PSDB, Brazil’s third largest party, announced it was staying in the government for now to make sure an orderly transition was in place if Temer has to go, party leader, Senator Tasso Jereissati, told reporters after meeting with lawmakers.

Outside, the message demonstrators chanted was clear: “Out with Temer!, general election now!”

Sonia Fleury, a political analyst at think tank FGV, said more violent protests can be expected in a country where discontent with a discredited political establishment is rife.

“We are in a very deep crisis. Temer is no longer governing. Anything he does, like call out soldiers, can only make things worse,” she said.

Unions were galvanised by opposition to a bill that would cut their power in the workplace by allowing temporary non-unionized contracts and ending obligatory payment of union dues.

“Temer can’t stay and these reforms that trample on our rights cannot advance. We want elections now,” said Dorivaldo Fernandes, 56, member of a health workers union in the neighbouring state of Goias.

Leftist senators, who on Tuesday succeeded in obstructing discussion of the labor reform bill, read out a constitutional amendment in committee that would allow early general elections instead of waiting until October 2018.

But chances of changing the constitution in the midst of a political crisis were minimal.

What to read next:</s>BRASÍLIA: Brazilian soldiers deployed Wednesday to defend government buildings in the capital Brasilia after protesters demanding the exit of President Michel Temer smashed their way into ministries and fought with riot police.

“At this moment, federal troops are already here in (the foreign ministry),” Defense Minister Raul Jungmann said in a brief televised statement. “And next there are troops arriving to secure all the ministerial buildings.”

Jungmann said the army was ordered in by Temer, who is fighting for his political life after being placed under a corruption investigation.

The deployment of soldiers sent a psychological shockwave through a capital already shaking from the day’s violence and frantic debate over the corruption scandal threatening to bring down the president.

In the lower house of Congress, the session was temporarily suspended after leftist deputies took over the speaker’s podium, brandishing signs saying “Temer out.”

Troops are regularly used in Brazil to back up police when law and order breaks down or help at major events like last year’s Rio Olympics.

However, the issue is deeply sensitive in a country that lived under military rule from 1964-1985 and the decision to bring soldiers into the heart of the government complex spooked even Temer’s allies.

“The question of a military presence is always something that frightens us,” said Tasso Jereissati, president of the PSDB social democrats.

Violence erupted soon after the crowd, estimated by police at 35,000, marched toward the presidential palace, which is flanked by Congress and the government buildings.

Although most of the protesters were peaceful, small groups wearing masks threw stones at officers ringing the area and smashed their way into the agriculture ministry and reportedly also the culture and planning ministries. Riot police crouching behind black shields lobbed tear gas and stun grenades into the crowd, triggering running battles.

When protesters set a fire in the agriculture ministry, employees were forced to flee.

“There was an invasion of the ministry’s private entrance. They lit a fire in a room, broke photos in a gallery of ex-ministers and confronted police,” a spokesman for the ministry told AFP. “The building was evacuated.”

Jungmann said the protest had been “peaceful but descended into violence, vandalism, disrespect, attacks on state property, and threats against people.”

Organized by leftist groups and trade unions a week after he was placed under a corruption probe, the protests are calling for Temer’s resignation.

Protesters also want the end of austerity reforms centered on cuts in the country’s generous but unaffordable pension system.

The left smells blood just over a year since Temer took over from Workers’ Party president Dilma Rousseff after she was impeached for illegally manipulating government accounts. Opponents say Temer could soon be forced to resign or subjected to an impeachment trial.

“It’s the end of this putchist government. That’s why the people have taken to the streets,” said Francisca Gomes, 59, who came from Sao Paulo to protest and carried a funeral ribbon with the president’s image and the words “RIP Temer.”

Inside Congress, Workers’ Party Senator Gleisi Hoffmann echoed those words, saying: “Temer will fall. Everyone says this government is dead.”

Temer insists the austerity reforms are already working and that more measures, especially pension reform, are needed.

Stuck in deep recession for two years, Latin America’s biggest economy is just now showing the first signs of returning to growth, although unemployment stands at nearly 14 percent.

However, Temer has been on the ropes since allegations that he attempted to pay hush money to a jailed politician and was involved in bribery. The scandal follows a landslide of other corruption allegations against much of Temer’s government and Congress in a huge probe known as “Operation Car Wash.”

For now, the president is trying to shore up his congressional alliance to resist calls for his impeachment. He has said he did nothing wrong and will not resign.

But analysts say that intense negotiations are going on behind the scenes to find the least traumatic way possible for Temer to be eased out.

Because he has no vice president, the constitution would require a 30-day period led by the speaker of the lower house, followed by an indirect election in which Congress picks a new president until after scheduled elections in October 2018.

“He doesn’t have the minimum conditions for this. But how the end will come for his government is the question.” AFP
Protestors set fire to the Ministry of Agriculture headquarters in Brasília amid calls for the impeachment or resignation of Michel Temer as President of Brazil over allegations of corruption.