Uprising: pro-Bolsonaro group blocks Brazil’s border with Venezuela

A day after contesting the reported victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT, left) over Jair Bolsonaro (PL, right) in the presidential elections with partial blockades at three points of the federal highway BR-174 in Roraima, Bolsonaristas decided to thoroughly block the road on Tuesday morning (1), on the border of Brazil with Venezuela, in Pacaraima, North of Roraima.

The Federal Highway Police (PRF) said they are on their way to the site, where passage is only made in cases considered exceptional by the protesters.

The blockade made by parked cars and protesters already forms a long line with dozens of vehicles on both sides of the border crossing.

Some were dressed in green and yellow and carrying the Brazilian flag.

In a video shared on TikTok, the president of the Commercial and Business Association of Pacaraima, João Kleber Soares, cites that the act is a “civil resistance” that occurs throughout the country.

“We will not make the same mistakes that our Venezuelan brothers made when they thought that the left, coming into power, would withdraw and change governments. And until today, they are slaves of socialism and communism, ” he shouted.

The blockade occurred even after Minister Alexandre de Moraes of the STF (Federal Supreme Court) demanded that the PRF act immediately to free the roads paralyzed by truck drivers across the country.

The decision came out on Monday night (31).

The magistrate established a fine of R$100 thousand (US$19,000) per hour of non-compliance from midnight on Tuesday (1), to be applied directly to the director general of the PRF, Silvinei Vasques.

According to the decision, Vasques may also be arrested in the act and removed for disobedience in case of non-compliance.

Earlier, the PRF had reported unblocking all interdiction points in compliance with Moraes’ order.