Thousands of women farmers marched through Brazil's capital Wednesday in a show of support for President Dilma Rousseff ahead of nationwide protests on Sunday calling for her impeachment.
The "March of the Daisies," organized by leftist groups linked to Rousseff's Workers' Party, attracted about 35,000 farmers to downtown Brasilia, according to official estimates.
Rousseff was expected to address them later Wednesday at the National Stadium, where the march was to culminate.
A severe economic downturn and dwindling popularity have raised calls for Rousseff to be impeached seven months into her second term as president. Her opponents are organizing marches that are expected to attract hundreds of thousands of people around the country Sunday.
In a fiery speech Tuesday night, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Rousseff's mentor and predecessor, told the farmers "some people have yet to realize the election ended on October 26 and Dilma is the president of this country."
Opinion polls show seven out of 10 Brazilians want Rousseff to be impeached, holding her responsible the downturn in Latin America's largest economy and a massive corruption scandal at state-run oil company Petrobras.
Never considered quitting
Also Wednesday, Rousseff said she had never considered resigning her post throughout the steepest political crisis of her more than four years in power.
Speaking to SBT channel in an interview, Rousseff said the ongoing crisis should not weigh down efforts to revive Brazil's flagging economy.
