Dilma Rousseff has reacted furiously to the Brazilian Senate's decision to remove her from office - describing it as a "coup".

Minutes after senators overwhelming voted to convict her of illegally using money from state banks to boost public spending, she tweeted: "Today is the day 61 men, many of them charged and corrupt, threw 54 million Brazilian votes in the garbage."

There were violent protests on the streets of Sao Paulo as Rousseff supporters smashed the windows of banks and other businesses.

Image: President Dilma Rousseff vowed to fight the decision to remove her from office

She has always denied wrongdoing and says she will appeal the impeachment - however, the door has been left open for her to return to parliament after a vote to ban her from public office failed to pass.

Ms Rousseff told supporters in the capital Brasilia: "Right now I will not say goodbye to you. I am certain I can say, 'See you soon.'"


The decision marks the culmination of a year-long impeachment battle that paralaysed Latin America's most powerful economy and laid bare deep rifts among the population on everything from race relations to social spending.

Image: Members of of the federal Senate vote on the impeachment of Ms Rousseff

Her Vice President Michel Temer, who has run the country since Ms Rousseff was suspended in May, has been sworn in to serve out the remainder of her term through 2018.

Motorists blared car horns in the capital Brasilia in celebration at the removal of a president whose popularity had plummeted since winning re-election in 2014.

Ms Rousseff maintained the impeachment process was aimed at protecting the interests of Brazil's economic elite and rolling back social programmes that have lifted millions of citizens out of poverty in the last decade.

Her opponents have hailed it as an opportunity to turn the page on a drawn out political crisis, the country's worst recession for generations and a corruption scandal at state oil company Petrobas.

Image: Michel Temer is inaugurated as Brazil's new president

Mr Temer has promised to boost Brazil's economy, which has shrunk for six consecutive quarters, and implement austerity measures to plug a record budget deficit.

Speaking after being sworn in, Mr Temer promised a "new era" of government.

However, he is likely to face strong opposition from Ms Rousseff's Workers Party, which has vowed to take to the streets in protest.