Brazil's suspended president Dilma Rousseff enters her final battle to win back power on Thursday, August 25, when senators open an impeachment trial expected to remove her from office for good, AFP reports.

That would formally end 13 years of leftist rule in Latin America's biggest economy.

During a trial expected to last several days, the former Marxist guerrilla, 68, will take the stand to defend herself against charges that she fiddled state accounts.

She denounces the impeachment drive as a "coup" by her rivals, led by her replacement, former vice president Michel Temer.

"In the Senate, I will argue not only for democracy and respect for the direct vote of the Brazilian people, but also for justice," Rousseff told reporters.

But media estimate that most senators will vote to remove her, AFP says.

"This will be the last chance she has to defend herself. For our part, we will treat her with respect," said one of the senators seeking to impeach Rousseff, Cassio Cunha Lima.

"It will also depend on her attitude. If she is aggressive and provocative, there will be a reaction," he told AFP.

The trial opens on Thursday, August 25, four days after the Olympic Games closing ceremony in Rio de Janeiro.