Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is appealing to protesting truck drivers to lift the road blockades. “The roadblocks in Brazil are hindering our right to come and go, which is in our constitution,” Bolsonaro said in a video shared on Twitter by the health ministry on Wednesday. “I would like to make an appeal: clear the streets.”
The truck drivers are among Bolsonaro’s most important voter groups and are known for causing economic chaos in the export nation with their blockades. His supporters have been blocking the streets in protest at the results of the presidential election since Sunday, and some are calling for a military coup. Bolsonaro was narrowly defeated by left-wing politician Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.