Groups of truckers block a highway, this Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro. ANDRÉ COELHO (EFE)
The road chaos unleashed in various parts of Brazil by Bolsonaro protesters has forced state authorities to mobilize the police.
The leaders of the three most populous states in the country, allies of President Jair Bolsonaro, have sent the security forces to comply with an order of the Federal Supreme Court that calls for the "immediate" release of the closed communication channels.
The protests by groups of truckers and other supporters of the president against the victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva have affected more than 300 highways in twenty states.
After hours of blockades on the roads, the state authorities have struck a blow on the table.
Meeting in a crisis cabinet, the governor of São Paulo, Rodrigo Garcia, who supported Bolsonaro in the second round, has said that the blockades were “inadmissible”.
"The election is over," said Romeu Zema, from Minas Gerais, another ally of the current president.
The Government of Rio de Janeiro has also sent the state police to clear the roads.
In some cases, security forces have used tear gas to disperse protesters.
The mobilization of the governors responds to an order of the Federal Supreme Court that asks to free the highways and empowers, in addition, the state police to intervene in any type of roads, including federal ones.
Truckers who resist face, according to the resolution, a fine of 100,000 reais per hour, about 20,000 euros.
Minister Alexandre de Moraes has also warned the director of the Federal Highway Police, Silvinei Vasques, a declared Bolsonarist, that he may be arrested if he does not comply with the order.
Since Bolsonaro's electoral defeat on Sunday night, hundreds of blockades have been recorded.
Among the roads that have been affected at some point are the main highway between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo and the one that connects this city with the Garulhos international airport, the largest in the country, which had to cancel 25 flights until morning. on Tuesday.
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At the São Paulo bus station, the companies stopped selling tickets to Rio de Janeiro.
Those who tried to make the trip on Monday afternoon had to return to the starting point and travelers, spend the night at the station.
The blockades have come to affect the transport of agricultural products.
The Brazilian Association of Supermarkets pointed to the "supply difficulties" and asked Bolsonaro for "support" to resolve the situation, in a note shared with CNN.
The protagonists of the blockades are the most radical followers of Bolsonaro.
While a large part of the public figures of Bolsonarism have already recognized the results, there is a base of the extreme right that insists on disputing the defeat and even calls for a military intervention to prevent the transition.
“This is our country! Long live democracy!” shouted the protesters, wrapped in Brazilian flags, on the road to the São Paulo airport.
The trucking sector is one of the most faithful to the president, who has benefited them with aid for the purchase of fuel and a relaxation of traffic regulations.
Lula's Workers' Party has blamed Bolsonaro for the chaos on the roads.
The president of the formation, Gleisi Hoffmann, has said that the president seeks "a political objective."
In addition, she has branded the director of the Federal Highway Police, whom he accuses of being complacent with the roadblocks, a "criminal."
"He is compromising the image of the police and Bolsonaro continues to compromise the image of Brazil," she has written.
The Movement of Homeless Workers, an association that supports Lula, has called its militants to demonstrate to try to unblock the roads.
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