This editorial appeared recently in The Providence Journal.

Brazil is in the final stages of preparation for the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Unfortunately, a political scandal threatens to dampen what should be an exciting time for this country.

At the center of this controversy is Dilma Rousseff, who became Brazil’s first female president in 2010.

The longtime political activist was jailed (and reportedly tortured) from 1970 to 1972 because of her fierce and brave opposition to the previous military dictatorship. She eventually became a populist force who achieved great electoral success.

Rousseff’s popularity has crumbled in recent years, however. Rather than boost the country’s economy, the ninth largest in the world, her policies— combined with a crash in oil prices —have driven it into a deep recession, the country’s biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression. And now she faces a serious impeachment challenge led by a political rival, lower house Speaker Eduardo Cunha.

Rousseff was accused of breaking the country’s budgetary laws. Instead of sticking to a budget, she borrowed from state banks to cover a deficit, in part to keep paying for social programs. This reportedly happened just ahead of her 2014 presidential reelection bid.

The impeachment motion passed 367-137 in the lower house on April 17. The focus now shifts to the Senate, which will decide her fate.

The Brazilian president insists she’s the victim of a coup by opposition parties. She has also argued that other leaders have done similar things. “The acts that they accuse me of,” she said, “they were practiced by other presidents of the republic before me. And it wasn’t characterized as being illegal acts or criminal acts. They were considered legal.”

It’s a rather weak defense on her part, since two (or more) wrongs don’t make a right. In addition, she seems to have borrowed vastly more than previous leaders did.

Some see corruption on the other side too. While Brazilian columnist Celso Rocha de Barros, in an April 19 New York Times op-ed, dismissed her notion that the impeachment proceeding was a coup, he also said this “doesn’t mean it’s right.” He contends that the impeachment process “may very well turn out to be the way the old political class reasserts control over the country— and escapes jail” under her leadership. In addition, the Supreme Court is packed with judges from Rousseff’s own party, and may “review” her impeachment.

Still, it does seem clear that, in Latin American country after country, populists elected on the notion of redistributing wealth and bowling over anyone who gets in their way have run into some hard realities of economics. There needs to be a vibrant economy to sustain big government spending, and the rule of law is essential to a vibrant economy.

It is too bad that Brazil is in this mess just before Rio 2016 gets under way.