Hundreds of trucker roadblocks sealed off highways across the country as a protest against rising fuel prices ground Brazil’s economy to a halt in recent days. Gas stations from São Paulo, the financial capital, to Manaus, in the heart of the Amazon, have run out of fuel.
Dozens of flights have been canceled, fresh food supplies in supermarkets have dwindled and millions of chickens and pigs have been culled because of a lack of animal feed. On Monday, many schools and universities suspended classes.
An announcement by president Temer on Thursday that he had struck a deal with the strike leaders proved premature. Roadblocks were maintained through the weekend and oil workers announced that they intended to go on strike this week, raising the prospect of a deepening crisis that has laid bare the weakness of Mr. Temer’s lame-duck government ahead of a presidential election in October.
Over the weekend, president Temer issued an order authorizing the military to clear roads using force, if necessary, a move that drew condemnation from human rights groups.
But after that threat failed to bring the strike to an end, Temer appeared weary as he announced in a televised statement on Sunday that the government would subsidize the cost of diesel to drop the price at the pump by 12 percent. He also said truck drivers would pay less in tolls and get more government contracts. The measures were striking concessions by a government that has sought to rein in spending as Brazil emerges from a long, crippling recession.
