On the eighth day of a nationwide strike over soaring fuel prices that has paralysed the Brazilian economy, truck drivers continued to protest on highways across the country.
According to the G1 news site, demonstrations continued on Monday in 25 states and the federal district of Brasília, while in São Paulo, school buses and motorbike couriers joined the protests.
New concessions announced by the president, Michel Temer, on Sunday night, including cutting taxes on diesel for 60 days, reduced tolls for empty trucks and minimum freight rates, initially appeared to have won over truckers. The Brazilian Truck Drivers Association – a key union that claims to represent 600,000 drivers – even said the strike was over.
But truckers have yet to return to work. Some strikers said the deal was not enough. Others were unsure.
“After 60 days it will go back to how it is, with higher prices,” said Edmundo de Souza, 36, a truck driver parked up with other strikers on a São Paulo highway. “Most people here realise that there was a victory, but the decision whether to continue will be up to a vote,” said José Rodrigues, leader of a group of strikers blocking Brazil’s biggest port in Santos.
On Sunday, the Estadão news agency reported, a truck driver was shot in the head after trying to stop a truck avoiding a blockage in Espírito Santo state. He was taken to hospital.
Across Brazil factories have been forced to shut down. In São Paulo only a third of buses were running, queues for gasoline at petrol stations continued and schools and universities suspended classes. Supermarket shelves in central Rio were bare of fruit and vegetables, bus services were reduced, schools were closed and the city had an enforced holiday feel.
“It’s all empty there, take a look,” said Marcos Colal, a supermarket manager in central Rio, gesturing at empty fruit and vegetables shelves. “We haven’t had any medicines delivered in a week, not one,” said Paulo Galvão, manager of a nearby pharmacy. “I’m very worried.”
Brazilians have been left shocked by the waste of food caused by strike – such as 300m litres of milk that the country’s Dairy Products Association said had been thrown away, and 64m birds the Association of Animal Protein said had to be put down. It added that 1bn more birds were at risk.
Economists have been calculating how much the strike will cost Brazil’s battered economy, barely limping out of recession. Sunday’s concessions alone will cost taxpayers nearly £2bn.
On Friday Temer sent in the army and federal police forces to help break the strike but while fuel deliveries from refineries for police, public transport and hospitals have been made with armed escorts, the army has avoided confrontation. On Sunday army commander, General Eduardo Villas Boas, tweeted that its “operational guideline” was “negotiation to avoid conflicts”.
In some towns in the south of Brazil, people have demonstrated in support of striking truckers and drivers. A minority of strikers even called for military intervention – a thorny subject in a country that spent 21 years under a right-wing dictatorship. “I think that’s the way forward,” said Sonia Gouveia, 52, a striking school bus driver in São Paulo.
Amid the political fallout, Temer’s dismal popularity has plummeted further. His Sunday-night television address was greeted with pan bashing by incensed viewers in some cities. Yet his administration printed newspaper adverts on Monday to trumpet its “conquests” during two years in government. One was headlined “We advanced with Brazil”, with a photo of a smiling woman in front of full supermarket shelves.
Rafael Cortez, a political scientist and partner at São Paulo consulting outfit Tendências, said Temer’s claim to be leading an economic recovery looked increasingly shaky. “The Temer administration is almost a lame duck,” he said.
Additional reporting by Sam Cowie