Blockades are coordinated by bolsonaristas and not by truck drivers, say leaders

The roadblocks in protest against the result of the presidential elections divide the leadership of truck drivers and are seen more as a movement of Bolsonarist militancy than the category that stopped Brazil for two weeks in 2018 in protest against the high fuel prices.

Leaders of that strike told the Sheet not participating in the coordination of the current demonstrations and not even having an idea of ​​where the calls for the blockades come from, which have a more political than labor agenda.

In the protests, Bolsonaristas question the results of the elections and even ask for military intervention to prevent the inauguration of President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). And they demand from President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) a firmer position in contesting the election.

The questioning of the election results was ignited by messages saying that the Armed Forces inspection and external audits had detected irregularities in the counting of votes and that a report of fraud would be made to the STM (Superior Military Court).

It gained strength throughout the day with Bolsonaro’s silence, who until early Monday night had not expressed himself about the election result, and with manifestations of support from Bolsonarist influencers, such as federal deputy Carla Zambelli (PL).

In a message group among truck drivers from Rio Grande do Sul, the participants classified the movement as “civil resistance” and criticized statements about respect for the polls, such as that of the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP) – who, this Sunday, asked for respect for the result of the ballots.

During the day, the blockages multiplied, even occurring on urban roads in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, for example. In some cases, there were not even trucks in the protests, which were only carried out by supporters of the President of the Republic.

One of the leaders that emerged in 2018, truck driver Wallace Landim, known as Chorão, released a video early in the morning questioning the demonstrations and stating that “this is not the time to stop Brazil.

“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 [Lula]”, he said, arguing that the category will need alignment with the new government to approve agendas of its interest.

Self-employed truck driver and director of CNTTL (National Confederation of Transport and Logistics Workers), Carlos Alberto Litti Dahmer reinforced the argument.

“The agenda that is being discussed now is not an agenda for transport workers, it is not an economic agenda. The economic agenda that must be maintained and carried, regardless of the government”.

“It is not necessarily the truck driver who is stopping. They are stopped because of the roadblocks. There are some truck drivers who are supporting them. But it is not the category in general that is doing it”, said the president of ANTB (National Transport Association of Brazil) , José Roberto Stringasci.

One of the supporters of the blockades, truck driver Janderson Maçanero, known as Patrola, confirmed to the BBC that most of the protesters without his city, Itajaí (SC), are people of different professions. He stated that the duration of the movement will depend on Bolsonaro’s position.

“We are waiting for him to speak. Either Bolsonaro goes to war, or he will disappear from the political scene, because then he is not the leader we thought,” he said, stressing that he would not support a military coup.