Politics

How Bolsonaro tries to pander to truckers

Truckers are both vital to the Brazilian economy and a key support base for Jair Bolsonaro. The president has spared no expense to keep them happy, a challenging task as diesel prices soar

President Jair Bolsonaro supported the 2018 truckers strike, but has done the impossible for a new such movement to happen during his administration. Photo: Alan Santos/PR
President Jair Bolsonaro supported the 2018 truckers’ strike, but has done all he can to avoid a new such movement happening during his administration. Photo: Alan Santos/PR

Senator Fernando Bezerra Coelho, a former government whip who still acts as rapporteur for bills that are important to President Jair Bolsonaro, promised to deliver a report this week on a bill aimed at reducing taxes on diesel and cooking gas. Mr. Coelho also pledged to include one additional measure in the proposal: a voucher for truckers to buy fuel.

High diesel prices hit truckers particularly hard – and as the cost of oil surges worldwide, the price of diesel at the pump in Brazil has gone up by more than 50 percent in the past year. This ‘trucker voucher’ would seek to mitigate the impact price hikes have on drivers’ pockets. 

The measure is slated to last until the end of this year — until just after the elections — and is expected to cost BRL 5.4 billion, or just over USD 1 billion.

Roads are used for more than 60 percent of all cargo transportation in Brazil, making truck drivers a vital component of the national economy — as was made evident during the massive 10-day truckers’ strike in 2018 that plunged Brazil into momentary chaos. Mr. Bolsonaro, who won the presidential election a few months later, supported the strike.

Truck drivers make up part of his support base, and as president, Mr. Bolsonaro has frequently catered to the sector’s demands. Just last month, he issued a provisional decree allowing for the readjustment of cargo transport prices.

This sort of pandering has emboldened truckers, who during the Bolsonaro administration have regularly threatened strike action in reaction to fuel price hikes...

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