Police in Canada try this Saturday (12) to free the Ambassador bridge, which connects the American city of Detroit to the Canadian city of Windsor, but the standoff with anti-vaccination protesters who block the place continues after seven hours of the beginning of the operation, without showing signs of release. of traffic.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau even made it around the bridge without any problems, but dozens of protesters still occupied the sidewalk and faced police, supported by armored vehicles.
The operation to free the bridge came more than 12 hours after a court ordered an end to the blockade. “We urge all protesters to act lawfully and peacefully,” the Windsor Police wrote on Twitter, which urged people to avoid areas affected by the protests.
The agents moved behind the demonstrators’ vehicles and, accompanied by vehicles, advanced against the group that was there – reduced from 200 people on Friday night (11) to dozens on Saturday morning -, pushing them from the bridge entrance.
“We are opening this intersection to traffic. If you don’t follow our instructions, you will be arrested,” a police officer was saying over a loudspeaker. Protesters were seen retreating, tearing down tents and barbeque grills, in a noisy retreat.
The bridge was a focal point of tension between neighboring countries and its five-day blockade led the US to pressure the Canadian government, which in turn extended the state of emergency to Ontario, where Windsor is located, on Friday. The site is the busiest point on the border, and the traffic disruption has impacted supplies to Detroit automakers.
The estimated loss due to the lockdown for the auto industry alone could reach US$700 million (R$3.67 billion), according to data from IHS Markit’s. More than 25% of the goods traded between the United States and Canada travel through Ambassador.
The so-called “freedom train” acts began in Ottawa, with truck drivers protesting against mandatory vaccination passports to cross the US border. fight Covid-19, with the participation of people in smaller vehicles, such as cars, vans and pickups.
The protests spread to two other points on the US border, in addition to the Ambassador Bridge. Lesser traffic crossings in Alberta and Manitoba were also blocked. In Toronto, the country’s financial capital, police blocked major roads leading to the center of the business district in an act planned for Saturday.
Ottawa police also said on Saturday that they expected reinforcements to end the illegal occupation. Despite the decree of a state of emergency on Friday, the protesters showed “aggressive behavior against the agents”, according to the agents.
According to Canadian police, the protests have been financed, in part, by Americans, which led Ontario to freeze funds donated by an American platform on Thursday (10). A spokesperson for the Toronto-Dominion Bank also froze two accounts that had deposits of 1.4 million Canadian dollars (R$ 5.76 million) in support of the protesters.
The demonstration in Canada also inspired other “freedom trains” in the US, France, New Zealand and Australia.
In the neighboring country, motorists plan to head to the waterfront in Port Huron, Michigan, in support of Canadian protesters. Another US group said two convoys were heading this weekend to another point on the border, in Buffalo, New York.
In New Zealand, activists have been camped out in Wellington’s Parliament Gardens for four days, and the protests have led to clashes with police, who have made more than 120 arrests. The number of protesters rose to nearly 1,500 on Friday as agents reduced the number used to disperse the protests.
Already Paris was the destination of thousands of vehicles that traveled this Friday in trains departing from all over France. They had hoped to lock down the capital to protest Covid-19 vaccination rules and other health restrictions, despite the act having been banned.
This Saturday, a part managed to reach the Champs Elysées avenue, in the center of the capital. Police fired tear gas and issued hundreds of fines to disperse vehicles that tried to block traffic on the city’s most famous avenue.
Meanwhile in The Hague, Netherlands, opponents of sanitary restrictions arrived in the city in trucks and blocked the city center for several hours.
Belgian and Austrian authorities, meanwhile, banned freedom trains after reports of planned protests in those countries.
