Good morning! Brazil remains hostage to truck drivers. Increasing competition in oil refining. The Supreme Court v. Everyone. Pension reform.
Brazil remains hostage to truck drivers
The government’s measures to please truck drivers (promoting less bureaucracy, more credit, and improvements to roads) was considered a “handout” by truckers’ unions, who say the measures have not solved the problem. After all, the sector’s main requests—raising and enforcing minimum freight prices, and reducing diesel prices—weren’t met. Moreover, the government has announced that Petrobras is free from political interference to change diesel prices according to the company’s needs.
All of this means that a new truckers’ strike remains a possibility if diesel prices at gas stations go up—in WhatsApp groups, there are talks about a May 21 protest. Diesel is 5% more expensive than it was at the beginning of the year; however, it remains almost 6% cheaper than it was after the 2018 truckers’ strike—an 11-day movement which caused fuel and food shortages, and billion-dollar losses for all sectors of the economy. Cargo transportation resumed only after the government at the time offered fuel subsidies and minimum freight prices.