Number of Brazilian states with wildcat trucker strikes rises to 14

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Truckers paralyzed sections of highways in at least 14 states on Wednesday, September 8 – a day after protests called by President Jair Bolsonaro – according to a report released at 8:30 PM yesterday by the Ministry of Infrastructure.

By late afternoon on Wednesday, the Federal Highway Police (PRF) had recorded truckers protests on federal highways in 8 states – according to reports released by the Ministry of Infrastructure, none of these points were completely blocked.

The protests recorded by the PRF by 5:30 PM occurred in Bahia, Espírito Santo, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, Maranhão and Rio Grande do Sul.

“In recent hours, 2 points with full roadblocks were registered in Rio Grande do Sul and are being demobilized by the Federal Highway Police,” the Ministry said.

In Santa Catarina, the PRF reported a blockade at 22 points late Wednesday afternoon, affecting virtually all regions of the state. The situation has begun to affect fuel distribution. By 5 PM, some 30 gas stations in the northern region of the state, where the most populous city of Santa Catarina is located, Joinville, reported a gasoline and diesel shortage at the pumps, according to a survey by Sindipetro-SC (Santa Catarina Trade Union of Retail Trade in Petroleum Derivatives).

Parts of BR-163, the main road for grain distribution in the Midwest, also recorded a concentration of truckers at the end of the day, which placed export-related companies on alert.

There were also roadblocks in northern Roraima state, where a group of independent truckers disrupted traffic on the BR-174, the state’s only connection with the rest of the country. Truckers blocked both roads at around 4 PM, at kilometer 482.

In Rio de Janeiro state there were protests in Campos dos Goytacazes, at km 75 of the BR-101 highway, and in Seropédica, where demonstrators urged the police to allow the protest to continue until Thursday, September 9. According to the police, they occupied a 1.5 km stretch of a side road to BR-465.

The demonstrations are part of a number of events held during the holiday in support of the Jair Bolsonaro government, according to truckers’ reports. The demonstrations advocated anti-democratic agendas, such as military intervention and the removal of Federal Supreme Court (STF) Justices.

According to the report, the police were present at all points and working to clear traffic, with demonstrations expected to end by midnight. “In all, 117 incidents with a concentration of people and attempts to block all or part of highways over the past few hours have been suppressed,” said the PRF in a statement.

According to the PRF, the protests were not organized by sector entities, were not limited to demands related to truckers and were of a “varied composition.” However, a trucker who led the 2018 strikes, Fabiano Márcio da Silva, said that trucker Marcos Antônio Pereira Gomes, known as Zé Trovão, “linked” agribusiness and self-employed drivers. According to a video published by Zé Trovão on social networks yesterday, these protests are intended to exert pressure for the impeachment of STF Justices.

A source from the Ministry of Infrastructure says he has no knowledge of Zé Trovão, in hiding since last Friday, September 3, when the Prosecutor General’s Office ordered his arrest, determined by STF Justice Alexandre de Moraes, as part of the inquiry investigating threats to democracy in the protests scheduled for September 7.

A man who identified himself as Erick Carvalho, representing himself as Zé Trovão’s attorney, said he unsuccessfully tried to submit an impeachment request to the Senate on Wednesday. Due to the frustrated attempt, Carvalho says that there will be a new strike and that the initiative is backed by agribusiness representatives. He mentioned no names.

In the video released to journalists, Carvalho also says that a representative of singer and ex-deputy Sergio Reis was prevented from entering the Senate. The artist was the target of a Federal Police search and seizure in mid-August on suspicion of calling for attacks on the Supreme Court.