Praça dos Três Poderes is isolated to avoid invasion of truck drivers

After Bolsonarista truck drivers closed roads across Brazil against the election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), the Military Police of the Federal District blocked part of the Esplanada dos Ministérios, in Brasília, as a precaution against possible invasions.

“The Esplanade was preventively isolated to prevent trucks from invading the region. The idea is to protect public bodies and maintain order,” said the PM, in a note.

The blocked region comprises the Praça dos Três Poderes, where the National Congress, the Planalto Palace and the Federal Supreme Court (STF) are located.

Near the area blocked by the police, about 20 Bolsonarista demonstrators were protesting against Lula’s election.

THE Sheet was at the scene around 5 pm this Monday, time scheduled for a pro-Bolsonaro act, organized through WhatsApp groups.

Some participants tried to intimidate members of the press, claiming they would lose their jobs and asking how much the journalists were paid.

They also harassed Lula supporters who were driving by, cursing and taunting.

Protesters carried banners alleging election fraud, without evidence, and against communism.

“Measure [bloqueio] took place after identification of a possible act scheduled for the place made by social networks. The SSP/DF [Secretaria de Segurança Pública do Distrito Federal] highlights that the entire Esplanade continues to be monitored by public security, with the support of cameras and by the intelligence service, with the support of security forces,” the agency said in a statement.

Protests in at least 100 points across the country

In several regions of Brazil, truck drivers closed roads in protest against the victory of former President Lula and the defeat of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) in this year’s elections.

The PRF (Federal Highway Police) confirmed that so far it has recorded blockages or agglomerations on roads in 18 states and the Federal District, with about 100 blockages across the country.

The corporation did not report the number of occurrences in each of the states. There have been or are ongoing protests in Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás, Rondônia, Pará, Acre, in Amazonas and the Federal District.

Videos circulating on the internet show tires on fire on the road. In one of them, you can hear the national anthem in the background.

On the other hand, one of the leaders of the 2018 strike, truck driver Wallace Landim, known as Chorão, asked colleagues to lift the blockades.

“At this moment, stopping the country will greatly harm the democracy of this country. We need to have recognition of democracy, of the president’s victory [Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva]”, he says, in a video released by social networks.

The PRF called the AGU (Advocacy-General of the Union) to try a judicial measure to prevent the occupation of federal roads, as has been happening since the dawn of this Monday (31).

Criticized for acting in the midst of roadblocks, the police defended themselves by saying that since the beginning of the blockades “it has taken all measures to return to the normality of flows”, directing teams to the locations and initiating negotiations.

But he said that he is trying to use dialogue to guarantee, “in addition to free and safe transit, the citizens’ right to demonstrate.” With the recourse to justice, the PRF wants a measure that prevents protesters from interrupting the flow of vehicles.

The Esplanade was also closed on the eve of the September 7 acts, when trucks invaded the area in support of Bolsonaro.

The president even ordered the Army to allow vehicles to enter the local roads, but the Federal District police denied and blocked the category’s demonstration.