Sao Paulo , Brazil ( CNN ) Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians are taking to the streets in protests across the country , lashing out against President Dilma Rousseff as she struggles with an economic downturn and a massive bribery scandal . The demonstrators have called for the President to be impeached . On the other side Rousseff 's base is holding rallies in her support . There are a number of issues at play . One of the biggest : an investigation into a multimillion-dollar kickback scheme at the state-run oil company Petrobras . Petrobras was long considered the corporate jewel in Brazil 's crown , one of the biggest companies in the world by market capitalization . But last year , investigators launched a sweeping investigation . According to suspects-turned-witnesses , construction companies paid bribes to executives at Petrobras as well as politicians to secure lucrative contracts . Most of the politicians accused in the investigation belong to the President 's Workers Party and its allies . During many of the years that the alleged corruption took place , Rousseff was the chairwoman of Petrobras . There has n't been any evidence she was involved with the scheme , and her supporters say the position is merely a figurehead . Rousseff has defended Brazilians ' right to protest and acknowledged the need to clean up corruption at Petrobras -- but denied any prior knowledge of it . But Brazilians are still outraged . Rousseff won re-election with just over 50 % of valid votes in October , but her approval rating plummeted to 13 % after the protests last month . Compounding the frustration is the economy , which is expected to contract this year . Inflation is stubbornly high , and the currency has lost more than 20 % of its value against the dollar this year alone . Both sides are . The country was already sharply divided during presidential elections in October . Roughly half of the voting population did n't vote for Rousseff , and many of those same people joined protests immediately after elections . Rousseff 's supporters like to characterize the protesters as Brazilian elite and right-wingers , and some small groups do carry signs calling for a military intervention to oust the President . But with the Petrobras scandal growing and the economy sinking , the protests have gotten bigger and broader , with many demonstrators saying they initially voted for Rousseff . Protesters say Rousseff should be impeached for failing to halt the corruption at Petrobras . On the other hand , labor unions , social activists and groups such as the Landless Workers Movement who support the government have organized their own marches . The demonstrations are meant as a show of force for democracy , with participants saying the President was democratically elected and can not be impeached . But participation has not been consistently strong . The President has said Petrobras should be cleaned up . Has she done anything about it ? She says she 's given prosecutors and the Federal Police free rein to investigate the Petrobas scandal . Some of her allies who have been implicated in the investigation think Rousseff should do more to protect them . This scandal has been known publicly for at least a year , and during Rousseff 's election campaign , she said she would root out corruption . The Brazilian economy was booming for the good part of a decade , bolstered by voracious demand for its commodities from China . But with China 's economy cooling , Brazil has failed to find a successful alternative to promote growth and shore up investor confidence . Now , with the President 's approval rating abysmally low , it will be difficult to implement the savings needed to get the economy back on track . Rousseff has appointed a market-friendly economy minister , Joaquim Levy , to try and fix the country 's fiscal problems . But in the current political crisis , he has n't been able to make much progress .
Protesters angry over bribery scandal involving state-run oil company Petrobras . Brazilian President Rousseff also is struggling with an economic downturn .