Full coverage: 2016 Rio Olympics

The Olympic flame as the symbol of the Games arrived in Brazil Tuesday. Beginning in the nation’s capital Brasilia, the flame will embark upon a 95-day journey to begin a torch relay across the first South American country to host an Olympics before arriving in the host city Rio de Janeiro to start the Games August 5.

BRASILIA, May 4, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff lights the Olympic torch at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia May 3, 2016. Brazil on Tuesday started the 95-day Olympic torch relay which will end at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro in August for the 2016 Olympic Games opening ceremony. (Xinhua/Rahel Patrasso)

Despite the current political turmoil enveloping the country, Brazil’s embattled president Dilma Rousseff lit the first torch. For a moment, Brazil set its troubles aside. In Brasilia, the capital and epicenter of Brazil’s political dramas, the president of the Rio 2016 organizing committee presented the flame.

Rousseff lit the torch in what could be one of her last major public appearances. Rousseff faces a possible impeachment trial on charges that she broke the law by concealing budget shortfalls.

If the Senate votes for a trial, Rousseff could be out of office for up to six months during the proceedings. She vowed not to let her troubles disrupt the games.

And so the torch began its long journey across Brazil. The first torch bearer was Brazilian Fabiana Claudino, a double Olympic volleyball gold medalist followed by Artur Avila, the first Brazilian to win the Fields Medal—sometimes called the Nobel prize of Mathematics.

Around 12,000 torch bearers will carry the flame across Brazil's 26 states, passing through more than 300 cities and towns—a total of 20,000 kilometers by road and 16,000 by air. Its final destination is Rio’s Maracana stadium August 5.

Olympic organizers say the torch’s journey will take it on roads, where around 90 percent of Brazil’s 200 million people will be able to see it.