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 Temer, a 75-year-old centrist now moving to steer Latin America's
biggest country toward more market-friendly policies, told
Brazilians to have "confidence" they would overcome an ongoing
crisis sparked by a deep economic recession, political volatility
and a sprawling corruption scandal.
"It is urgent we calm the nation and unite Brazil," he said, after a
signing ceremony for his incoming cabinet. "Political parties,
leaders, organizations and the Brazilian people will cooperate to
pull the country from this grave crisis."
Brazil's crisis brought a dramatic end to the 13-year rule of the
Workers Party, which rode a wave of populist sentiment that swept
South America starting around 2000 and enabled a generation of
leftist leaders to leverage a boom in the region's commodity exports
to pursue ambitious and transformative social policies.
But like other leftist leaders across the region, Rousseff
discovered that the party, after four consecutive terms, overstayed
its welcome, especially as commodities prices plummeted and her
increasingly unpopular government failed to sustain economic growth.
 In addition to the downturn, Rousseff, in office since 2011, was
hobbled by the corruption scandal and a political opposition
determined to oust her.
After Rousseff's suspension, Temer charged his new ministers with
enacting business-friendly policies while maintaining the
still-popular social programs that were the hallmark of the Workers
Party. In a sign of slimmer times, the cabinet has 23 ministers, a
third fewer than Rousseff's.
A constitutional scholar who spent decades in Brazil's Congress,
Temer faces the momentous challenge of hauling the world's No. 9
economy out of its worst recession since the Great Depression and
cutting bloated public spending.
He quickly named respected former central bank governor Henrique
Meirelles as his finance minister, with a mandate to overhaul the
costly pension system.
ROUSSEFF DEFIANT
The Senate deliberated for 20 hours before voting 55-22 early on
Thursday to put Rousseff on trial over charges that she disguised
the size of the budget deficit to make the economy look healthier in
the runup to her 2014 re-election.
Rousseff, 68, was automatically suspended for the duration of the
trial, which could be up to six months. Before departing the
presidential palace in Brasilia, a defiant Rousseff vowed to fight
the charges.
In her speech, she reiterated what she has maintained since
impeachment proceedings were launched against her last December by
the lower house of Congress. She denied any wrongdoing and called
the impeachment "fraudulent" and "a coup."
"I may have made mistakes but I did not commit any crime," she said.
 Rousseff's mentor, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who
now faces corruption charges, stood behind her and looked on
dejectedly. Even as outgoing ministers wept, Rousseff remained
stolid.
"I never imagined that it would be necessary to fight once again
against a coup in this country," Rousseff said, in a reference to
her youth fighting Brazil's military dictatorship.
"This is a tragic hour for our country," said Rousseff, an economist
and former Marxist guerrilla, calling her suspension an effort by
conservatives to roll back the social and economic gains made by
Brazil's working class.
The Workers Party rose from Brazil's labor movement in the 1970s and
helped topple generals who had held power for two decades ending in
1985.
In the heady days of Lula's presidency, starting in 2003, it helped
lift millions of people out of poverty before running into recession
and scandal, with many of its leaders now tainted by corruption
investigations and criminal convictions.
Despite Rousseff's vows to fight, she is unlikely to be acquitted in
the Senate trial. The size of the vote to try her showed the
opposition already has the support it will need to reach the
two-thirds majority required to remove her definitively from office.
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"It is a bitter though necessary medicine," opposition Senator Jose
Serra, who became the new foreign minister, said during the marathon
Senate debate. "Having the Rousseff government continue would be a
bigger tragedy."
ECONOMIC CHALLENGES
Temer aides said the incoming government would soon announce a
series of austerity measures to help reduce a massive budget
deficit. An immediate goal is a reform of Brazil's costly pension
system, possibly setting a minimum age for retirement, said one
advisor.
Brazilian markets, which for weeks have rallied because of
expectations for a business-friendly Temer administration, traded
similarly to a day earlier.
Upon being notified of her suspension early Thursday, Rousseff
dismissed her cabinet, including the sports minister, who is in
final preparations for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August. The
central bank governor, who has ministerial rank, was the only
minister to remain.
As suspended head of state, Rousseff can continue to live in her
official residence, and is entitled to a staff and use of an Air
Force plane.
Fireworks erupted in cities across Brazil after the Senate vote, but
the country took the change in stride. Some celebrants in São Paulo
and other cities draped themselves in Brazil's green, yellow and
blue flag, while some Rousseff backers protested.
Temer, of the grab-bag Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, must
stabilize the economy and restore calm at a time when Brazilians,
increasingly polarized, are questioning whether their institutions
can deliver on his promise of stability.
In addition to the gaping deficit, equal to more than 10 percent of
its annual economic output, Brazil is suffering from rising
unemployment, plummeting investment and a projected economic
contraction of more than 3 percent this year.
"Only major reforms can keep Brazil from moving from crisis to
crisis," says Eduardo Giannetti da Fonseca, an economist and author
in São Paulo who has written extensively about the country's
socioeconomic problems.
But those changes, including the pension effort, overhauls of tax
and labor laws and a political reform to streamline fragmented
parties in a mercenary Congress, could remain elusive at a time of
turmoil.
Elected leaders from parties that had been in the opposition
expressed optimism on Thursday that they could come together to help
spur a recovery. Even some leftists said Temer may enjoy
Congressional goodwill because, after his long experience there, he
could ably negotiate with disparate parties and interests.
"Temer is someone who knows Congress, said Hugo Leal, a socialist
Congressman from Rio de Janeiro. "He understands the logic."
Wild cards remain for Temer himself, including still-pending
investigations by an electoral court into financing for his and
Rousseff’s 2014 election campaign.
Then there is the far-reaching kickback probe around state-run oil
company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4.SA), which has ensnared dozens
of corporate and political chieftains, and helped set the scene for
the discontent that engulfed Rousseff.
(Additional reporting by Paulo Prada, Brad Brooks, Alonso Soto,
Leonard Goy and Silvio Cascione. Writing by Paulo Prada. Editing by
Frances Kerry and Diane Craft)
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