The ouster of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to face impeachment charges effectively ends 13 years of rule by the leftist Workers Party. And, with provisional President Michel Temer signalling a shift to the right... many of the current social programs are coming under fire.

Brazil's planned capital city, Brasilia, is a Unesco World Heritage site for its futuristic architecture and boasts the highest per capita income in the country.

But a twenty minute drive from the center of power is enough to reveal Brazil's deep social inequalities, visible in the slums that exist on the outskirts of Brasilia, like the Santa Luzia community.

About six thousand families live here, most of them in wooden shacks without sanitation and linked to the electric grid through creative improvisation.

Many rely on government social programs like the Bolsa Familia - the family wage - that provides a minimum income for those who keep their children in school. And they fear the impact that the political crisis and change in government could have on their benefits.

The president of the Santa Luzia Community Association says this would seriously affect the lives of thousands of people in need.

"The chain always breaks at its weakest link And that's us. So when we hear that expense cuts are needed we immediately think that this will impact social programs like the student loans and family income initiatives. And these are programs that have worked very well and are extremely important for poor communities like ours," said Adairton Da Paz Costa, president of Santa Luzia community association.

The government says the country needs to make tough adjustments to get back to growth and prepare for a more prosperous future. But in places like this, the focus remains on surviving today.