Feature: Dilma Rousseff, the Brazilian leader that undergoes impeachment trial

Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff, twice elected president as the candidate of a left-leaning alliance led by the Workers' Party (PT), will undergo one of the most critical moments of her political career next week.

Starting on Tuesday, the Senate is to vote on whether to impeach her on the grounds she is "criminally responsible" for fiscal wrongdoing during her administration, a charge she denies.

The long-time leftist leader, an activist who endured prison and torture at the hands of Brazil's former military regime, has denounced the accusations and trial as an attempt by right-wing political opponents to seize power.

"I fought torture, I fought cancer and I will fight this fight until the end," said Rousseff, who has likened the trial to an attempted coup, earlier this week.

Rousseff is scheduled to speak in her own defense on Monday, when she will confront her accusers face-to-face for the first time.

While Rousseff is accused of violating Brazil's Law of Fiscal Responsibility, most political observers believe her main "crime" was her inability to steer the country through a deep economic recession.

Her supporters point out Rousseff has never been suspected of corruption, while many of the lawmakers preparing to impeach her face serious charges of bribery or graft.

Last week, Rousseff proposed a national referendum be held to move up 2018 presidential elections, but the idea has found little support, even among the Workers' Party.

Born to a middle-class family in Minas Gerais -- her father was a Bulgarian immigrant and her mother Brazilian -- the young Rousseff had joined the armed resistance movement against the military dictatorship.

For her anti-government activism, she had been arrested, tortured and jailed for three years in the early 70s.

After studying economics, Rousseff served as mining and energy secretary for the state of Rio Grande do Sul in the 1980s, earning a reputation for taking her responsibilities seriously.

She joined the PT in 2001, and served as Energy Minister during the first presidential term of her predecessor and mentor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, starting in 2003, spearheading energy reforms. In 2005, she became his chief of staff.

In that capacity, she helped drive investment in health, housing, transport and energy infrastructure.

Her efforts garnered Lula's support for her presidential run in 2010, in which she won the runoff with 56 percent of the votes to become Brazil's first woman president.

Months prior to her presidential campaign, Rousseff was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer and underwent four months of chemotherapy.

As president, she worked to promote production and consumer spending through greater state participation in the economy.

To stimulate growth, she offered companies fiscal incentives, subsidies and soft credits at lower interest rates, though the measures were not as effective as hoped.

Other measures followed in 2013, but the global drop in the price of commodities, along with private- and public-sector deficits, gradually weakened the economy.

Rousseff was nevertheless re-elected to a second term in a 2014 run-off, but by a smaller margin -- she won 51.6 percent of the votes -- that emboldened the opposition.

Vocal criticism from the right and major economic challenges marked the start of her second term in January 2015, leading her to cut public spending in a bid to halt the recession.

Revelations of corruption among top executives of state oil giant Petrobras and leaders of the ruling coalition fueled growing discontent, sparking mass anti-government demonstrations.

Those have been followed by the worst economic contraction in Brazil's history: a 3.8 percent drop in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015. The year 2016 is expected to fare almost as poorly.

Throughout, Rousseff has championed social programs to help poor and struggling working-class families, as well as innovative schemes to improve education and healthcare, preserving the loyalty of a large part of her power base. Endit