Brazil: Pro-Bolsonaro truckers strike, paralyzing roads

Truckers in Brazil have blockaded roads in support of President Jair Bolsonaro. Other truck drivers have also come under attack by Bolsonaro supporters, causing paralysis on federal highways.

Truckers in Brazil continued to block federal highways in at least 14 of 27 federal states a day after President Jair Bolsonaro called on them to stop in a reluctant audio message that circulated in their chats as police worked to clear the roads overnight.

The Brazilian Infrastructure Ministry announced on social media that Bolsonaro would meet with truckers leading the blockades in multiple states by video conference Thursday.

The planned meeting between Bolsonaro and the truckers has raised some hopes that he could help halt the protests he instigated with fiery rhetoric against perceived political enemies on the Supreme Court and in the country's election commission on Tuesday, Brazil's Independence Day.

Critics are concerned the blockades show he has lost control of his ardent supporters.

Brazilian truckers in support of Bolsonaro

While Bolsonaro is eager to avoid a major strike like the one that crippled the Brazilian economy in 2018, he also does not want to alienate a key constituency. He gained the support of many of the country's truckers by lending support to their earlier protest.

Bolsonaro has long sided with truckers over high fuel prices. In an audio message that circulated among their group chats Wednesday night, Bolsonaro addressed them directly.

"Speaking to the truckers out there, who are our allies, these blockades hurt our economy," Bolsonaro said. "They cause supply shortages, inflation and hurt everyone, especially the poorest."

The AP new agency reports many truckers were weary of believing the audio was genuine, but Infrastructure Minister Tarcisio Gomes de Freitas confirmed it was in a follow up video message.

"We know everyone is concerned with improving the country's situation, everyone is concerned with resolving serious problems, but we can't try to resolve a problem by creating another, particularly hurting the most vulnerable people,'' he said.

Gomes de Freitas added: "That's the president's concern. I ask you all to listen attentively, hear the president's words.''

Bolsonaro poll numbers in decline

Bolsonaro is facing several battles on multiple fronts. He has presided over the world's second-deadliest outbreak of COVID-19 while grappling with double-digit inflation, persistent unemployment — all of which have contributed to his declining poll numbers.

The truckers have assisted him in showing strength as his approval ratings slide and early polling shows him losing reelection next year.

After his incendiary words on Tuesday's holiday for Brazilian Independence Day, truckers mobilized in force, even parking among the ministries of the capital, Brasilia, with protests signs that read, "Military intervention with Bolsonaro in power," and "Prison for the corrupt justices of the Supreme

Court."

Though not every trucker was wholly supportive of the effort, with some saying their vehicles had been sabotaged by coworkers who are supportive of Bolsonaro.

Bruno Rodrigues, 32, who was carrying auto parts in his truck and said he had been stopped an hour south of Sao Paolo at 4 a.m. by men who tried to smash his windshield with rocks but had succeeded in slashing a tire of his vehicle. He said he was losing time for deliveries on the road and would have to pay for the tire out of pocket.

"It's outrageous. If the stoppage had some benefit, OK, but they are hurting their own brothers of the road," he told Reuters

news agency.

The truck drivers' protests blocked access to the Brazil's Supreme Court headquarters