Meanwhile, at least 20 of the 27 Brazilian states are crossed by 267 roadblocks promoted mainly by Bolsonaro truckers, accompanied by protesters of the outgoing president.
With tear gas, the shock troops of the highway police tried to disperse a protest in Novo Hamburgo, on the outskirts of Porto Alegre (south), an AFP photographer confirmed.
“Right now we have 267 active blockade points” and other demonstrations along the highways, reported Marco Antônio Territo de Barros.executive director of the Federal Highway Police (PRF), who said that more than 300 events had already ended since Sunday.
In parallel, the governors of the states of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, the most populous in the country, called for the mobilization of the Military Police, which reports directly to these subnational administrations. The decision comes after the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes, ordered the Federal Highway Police (PRF for its acronym in Portuguese), which reports to the national government, to unblock the routes.
Minas Gerais
The re-elected governor of Minas Gerais, Romeo Zema, who supported Jair Bolsonaro in the second round, defended the release of the routes. “I have already asked our security forces to take the necessary measures to clear any route or path that is blocked by the demonstrations. The elections are over and now we must guarantee everyone’s right to come and go, and also that the merchandise arrives where it has to be,” he said, adding: “We will comply with the law.”
Saint Paul
In Sao Paulo, road blockades affected passenger transport at a major bus terminal, where police were trying to negotiate the exit of protesters carrying signs reading “Lula no!”
Sitting on the ground, they resisted leaving: “We are here for the future of Brazil, for our children. We want good for our country,” JeremÃas Costa, one of the demonstrators, told AFP.
The state governor, Rodrigo GarcÃa, of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), considered the blockades on state highways inadmissible and said that local security forces were called to clear the cuts.
“Route blocking is unacceptable. People have the right to come and go”Garcia said in a social media post.
In the interior of the state of Sao Paulo, trucks with material from the Formula 1 Grand Prix that takes place in November were blocked, according to images on local television.
And the highway that leads to São Paulo’s Guarulhos airport, the largest in the country, was blocked at dawn, causing cancellations and delays in some flights.
Rio de Janeiro
Another ally of Bolsonaro – who was even a speaker at the closing ceremony of the President’s campaign on Thursday – pronounced himself in the same vein, the re-elected governor of Rio de Janeiro, Claudio Castrowho affirmed today that he ordered the Shock Battalion of the Military Police to clear the roads of the state, in support of the PRF, according to the news portal G1, of Grupo Globo.
The mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, shared a video in which the Municipal Guard appears using pepper spray to disperse a group of protesters. “There is respect for the laws here,” Paes wrote.
For its part, the Public Ministry said, through a statement, that the Attorney General of Justice, Mario Sarrubbo, constituted a nucleus of action made up of members of the Public Ministry of Housing and Urbanism of the Capital and the Special Working Group of Fight against Organized Crime (GAECO) to investigate the circumstances in which the blockades occur.
In Rio Grande do Sul, a crisis cabinet was installed to monitor the blockades and, through it, it was defined that the Military Brigade (State Military Police) will use 1,000 policemen from the Shock Battalions to assist the PRF in clearing the routes.
The Paraná government also reported in a statement issued today that the Military Police “is already complying with the decision of the Federal Supreme Court to unblock the highways.”
“The right to free movement in the national territory is a guarantee for the Brazilian people. It is time to pacify Brazil. The 2022 elections were held in a democratic manner and the sovereign decision of the polls must be respected,” said the government of Parana.
The Supreme Court ordered the eviction
Police interventions occur after a judge of the supreme court will determine the “immediate unblocking of highways and public roads”.
The calls to support the blockades multiplied on Twitter and in Bolsonarist groups on Telegram, the AFP digital investigation team found. A pamphlet circulating on networks calls for a protest at the Ministries Esplanade in Brasilia in the afternoon.
“Brazil will not be a Venezuela”, reads the message. And it reproduces the words that Senator Flávio Bolsonaro dedicated to his father on Twitter on Monday: “Bolsonaro, we are with you for whatever.”
The Federal District police on Monday restricted vehicle access to the Plaza de los Tres Poderes, where the buildings of the Presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court are located, as a “preventive” measure against possible demonstrations.
The issue became the most commented on Twitter, where the actions were criticized by opponents of the government under labels such as “Bolsonaro terrorists.”
Source: Ambito
