The protests started by truck drivers against mandatory vaccines against Covid-19 in Canada, known as “freedom trains”, spilled over to other countries, generated economic consequences and led the US government to pressure the neighbor for tougher measures.
At the center of the tension, the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge, which connects the US city of Detroit to the Canadian city of Windsor, exposed the impact caused by what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau initially described as a “marginal minority”. The connection is a vital link for the auto industry, angered by a lockdown that, after two pandemic years, threatens to create shortages and fall in profits.
Washington has urged Canadian authorities to use federal powers to defuse the situation and end the lockdowns, according to US media reports. The US also offered assistance from the Departments of Homeland Security and Transport, if necessary, but without detailing how bilateral cooperation would be.
The pressure also came from Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, who urged officials to “take all necessary steps” to ease the economic blockade. “[Essa situação] is hitting household income and production lines. This is unacceptable,” she said in a statement.
In response, the mayor of Windsor, Ontario, Drew Dilkens, said that the administration, along with the local auto industry, is seeking to obtain in court an injunction that forces the protesters to leave. But he signaled that this is just one step and that forcibly removing truckers is not a ruled out possibility.
“If the protesters don’t leave, there has to be a way forward,” he told CNN. “If that means physically removing them, then we will. And we’re prepared to do that.”
The blockade has cost US$ 400 million (R$ 2 billion) in commercial goods and food every day, according to calculations released by Mayor Dilkens, who stressed that it was a national crisis, not a local one. The Court can evaluate the injunction this Friday (11).
Meanwhile, the so-called freedom convoy spills over into other regions. Inspired by truck drivers, protesters also took to the streets of New Zealand. Local police arrested more than 120 people in a protest against restrictions linked to the pandemic around the national parliament this Thursday (10).
The confrontation with the police escalated the adhesion to the movement, which in the country was dubbed the “camp of freedom”. From 250, the number of protesters grew to more than 1,500 on Thursday night (Friday morning in Brazil), according to a count by the AFP news agency.
In France, the forecast of cars, motorcycles and trucks leaving from various parts of the country towards the capital, Paris, made the city police establish a decree prohibiting this type of demonstration between this Friday and Monday (14).
“There will be a special deployment to prevent roadblocks on main roads, fines and imprisonment will be imposed on anyone who breaks the protest ban,” Paris police said in a statement.
The same statement recalls an article in the traffic code that lists the punishments for those who impede traffic on public roads – among them, two years in prison, a fine of 4,500 euros (R$ 26,800) and suspension of the driver’s license for three years or more.
“If people want to demonstrate in the normal way, they can,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told a French broadcaster. “If they want to block traffic, we will intervene.”
A group — among dozens — with around 350,000 people on Facebook called “Le convoi de la liberté” (literal translation of the name given to the Canadian protests) shares messages about the motorcades. Some left cities in the south of the country on Wednesday (9).
According to the French newspaper Le Monde, active users in groups and messaging apps about the mobilization present themselves as “apolitical and ordinary citizens” and emulate a discourse that is close to what was observed in the “yellow vests” demonstrations in 2018.
The idea of the French train is to go from Paris to neighboring Belgium, more specifically to the capital Brussels, which is also the administrative center of the European Union (EU). Mayor Philippe Close said protesters would be blocked because there were no requests for permission for convoys to enter the city.
Austrian police also spoke out saying that “freedom trains” would not be allowed in Vienna on the grounds that they would cause unacceptable disturbance and pollution.
In Canada, the strategy originated from demonstrations by truck drivers who are against the mandatory vaccination passport to cross the US border.
The movement, however, has been shrinking: last weekend, the police counted 1,000 trucks and 5,000 protesters, a third of what was registered at the peak of the protests against the restrictions, when there were about 3,000 trucks and 15,000 people on the streets. from Ottawa. According to the AFP agency, on Tuesday (8) there were between 400 and 500 trucks blocking the center of the city.
Canada sends 75% of its exports to the US, and trucks play a crucial role in transport between the two countries, which shows the economic dimension of the lockdown. In auto parts alone, about 100 million Canadian dollars cross the border daily.
