Protests broke out in several Brazilian cities Wednesday as demonstrators condemned the move by embattled President Dilma Rousseff to appoint former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as her chief of staff.

巴西几大城市星期三举行抗议活动，示威者们对四面楚歌的罗塞夫总统任命前总统卢拉为幕僚长表示谴责。

Some 2,000 demonstrators Wednesday gathered in the streets of Brazilia and Sao Paulo after Rousseff named Lula, who left office with very high popularity ratings, saying it would strengthen her government.

罗塞夫宣布对卢拉的任命后，大约 2000名示威者星期三在巴西利亚和圣保罗举行集会。卢拉离任时声望很高。罗塞夫表示，任命卢拉能加强巴西政府的执政能力。

Demonstrators say Lula was appointed in order to protect him from prosecution in a money laundering scandal involving the state-owned Petrobras oil company.

示威者说，罗塞夫任命卢拉担任幕僚长，是为了让他免于因一桩涉及国有石油公司的洗钱丑闻而受到起诉。

As a member of Rousseff's cabinet, Lula can only be tried before the Brazilian Supreme Court.

作为罗塞夫政府的内阁成员，卢拉只能在巴西最高法院受审。

Lula denies involvement in the Petrobras scandal.

卢拉否认与巴西石油公司丑闻有牵连。

But adding to Wednesday's unrest was the release of audio recordings by a judge heading the Petrobras investigation. The judge said the recordings of Lula's phone conversations indicate Lula was seeking help in avoiding prosecution.

与此同时，负责调查巴西石油公司丑闻的一位法官公布了一段录音。这位法官说，卢拉的电话录音显示，他曾为免于受到起诉而寻求帮助。