Good morning! This week, we analyze the true risks of new truckers’ strike, following fuel price hikes. And the four-year anniversary of the Marielle Franco murders — which has left many stones unturned.
Is a new truckers’ strike feasible?
Back in 2018, in protest against rising diesel prices, truckers across Brazil switched off their engines for 11 days — quickly causing fuel and food shortages in several states and creating economic havoc nationwide. Last week, when Petrobras announced a major increase to the price of diesel sold in refineries, some truckers unions began calling for a repeat of the 2018 strike. Tanker and car hauler drivers reportedly parked their trucks on Friday and have refused to work since, unless fuel becomes cheaper or their pay gets higher.
Wait … what? Meanwhile, President Jair Bolsonaro and Infrastructure Minister Tarcísio de Freitas seem to endorse this response. Mr. Bolsonaro said he understood why truckers would want to stop work, while Mr. Freitas said in a text message to a union leader that he found it “very correct” that drivers pressure freight companies.
Between the lines. As we reported on Friday, the government doesn’t believe a truckers’ strike could happen in 2022 — at least...