Bolsonaro tells truck drivers protesting his electoral defeat to clear the roads, but encourages other demonstrations
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- BBC News World
image source, Reuters
Bolsonaro supporters have closed hundreds of highways across Brazil.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday called on truck drivers protesting against Sunday’s election results to clear roads and protest elsewhere.
Supporters of the far-right president have erected hundreds of barricades across Brazil since Bolsonaro’s leftist rival, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was declared the winner of the election.
Bolsonaro said road closures are not the cases Form of “legitimate” protest Encourage people to choose other methods of illustration.
Many loyal Bolsonaro supporters refused to accept the result of Sunday’s presidential run-off, in which Lula narrowly won with 50.9% of the valid vote.
Furious with the outcome, truck drivers set up roadblocks across the country. Until now It lasted three days and caused significant disruption to the transportation of goods, including food and fuel.
Authorities struggled to get all of the barricades up, and according to the Federal Highway Police (PRF), more than 700 barricades have been dismantled.
Referring to the blockade in a video posted on his social media, Bolsonaro said, “I know they’re upset…Me too. But we have to keep our heads held high.”
“I want to make a call: clear tracks,” he asked, adding that The blocking of roads “impedes our right to come and go as stipulated in our Constitution.”.
But he encouraged protesters to look for other ways to demonstrate and welcomed the various rallies organized in their support, in which Brazilian flags were raised and anti-Lula slogans were chanted.
Some have also called for military intervention to keep Bolsonaro in power.
“This is very welcome and part of democracy,” he said.
Although Bolsonaro has yet to publicly admit his defeat, in a speech on Tuesday he also did not question the outcome of the election.
image source, Reuters
Some Bolsonaro supporters are calling for the military to step in to keep him in power.
He also approved the transition of power in his speech, which showed, according to the Brazilian Supreme Court, that he recognized the election result.
Bolsonaro’s term as president ends when Lula takes office as his successor on January 1.
Lula, who previously served as president from 2003 to 2011, is now 77 and will become the oldest person to hold the position.
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